September Chit/Chat

[Howie]

Rose, the pollution contributed by race cars is minimal. They run for a short time, once a week, then it's months before racing season comes around again.

[Virginia]

Rose, we welcome long post. Mine usually are. There are so few of us, that we need to take up space.

[agate]

Improvements have been made in emissions on cars, and we do have electric cars now. I have to have a smog test on my old van every other year. So, I don't think that cars are the major contributors now to our pollution and climate change.

Race cars may be in a different category. I don't know. Howie?

Our reliance on fossil fuels, our constant battering of Earth with drilling, digging, fracking, building. The plastic in our oceans and huge cargo containers. Nuclear power. The bombs we've dropped everywhere in war, in testing.

What we have now is the accumulation of destructive things we have done to Earth.

I'm not saying that cars are the major contributors to pollution and climate change but large numbers of them don't help. I haven't noticed very many electric cars on the road yet but I'm probably not out and about enough to know what's going on. Are they becoming very popular now?

Please bear with me while I continue my rant and move on to--planes. Planes are a great way to travel, but you have to wonder if some of the businesspeople hopping on planes at least once a week just to attend conferences really need to be doing that.

I've known of couples where he has a job in one city and she gets a job offer in another city, and so one of them commutes every weekend--by plane, of course. This sort of arrangement wouldn't have been possible without planes but do we need to have quite as much of it as I've been hearing about? I keep hearing about similar situations.

My son and DIL have both worked at jobs where their employers think nothing of flying them all over the map.

Birds are taking quite a hit (literally) as a result of so many planes in the air. Then there's all the fuel planes use. And if you've ever lived near enough to an airport to hear its racket, you know how hard to take it is.

I used to love plane travel but there's a lot to be said for a leisurely train or bus ride where you can see the world.

[Virginia]

Agate, changing the subject a little here. That last post by you was at 2:29AM. Now, I am pretty sure you were not up at 2:29 this morning. Please tell me what time it was when you posted that. I know we are 3 hours different in time zones, but when your post show 2:29A.M. it is confusing to me.

[agate]

The time on my screen for that post is 11:29 PM yesterday, which is the time it was here. Kinda late for me but a number of problems yesterday kept me much busier than usual. You're in the Eastern time zone, and I'm in the Pacific zone--3 hours difference.

A memo just came around in this building from the management company--3 pages about the fire. The company's main office is in another town and they had to evacuate. Luckily they had a location to go to. We're told that if we have to evacuate, we can go to any place where we feel safe or assemble in the lobby and wait for news about an evacuation site to go to.

Those without cars are told to "have an idea for transportation."

[Virginia]

Agate, stay in touch as much as you can. We will be concerned until we know what is going on. I don't know what "have an idea for transportation" means. That is concerning because you either have a way or you don't seems to me. You have not said what has gone on with your son and family since he was put on a level 1 emergency. So I don't know if that is a possibility or not.

There must be a number of people who would have to assemble in the lobby and I just wonder if there would be a way to work out a means of transportation for all of you. Is this a possibility or not?

[Virginia]

Rose check in time please!

[agate]

Agate, stay in touch as much as you can. We will be concerned until we know what is going on. I don't know what "have an idea for transportation" means. That is concerning because you either have a way or you don't seems to me. You have not said what has gone on with your son and family since he was put on a level 1 emergency. So I don't know if that is a possibility or not.

There must be a number of people who would have to assemble in the lobby and I just wonder if there would be a way to work out a means of transportation for all of you. Is this a possibility or not?

That's what happened another time when the building had to be evacuated--a different building in another state but we all had to get out because there was a bad fire. We gathered in the parking lot, and eventually a city bus was made available to us as it was starting to rain and get dark, and we stayed in the bus for many hours until some place to take us in was found.

Those who had cars or knew someone with a car got out on their own.

Those of us who had pets (I had a cat at the time) were the last ones for whom places were found. Some of us were put in an assisted living place.

My son and DIL have a way of taking on too much. I haven't heard what their plans are but am pretty sure that her family (parents, brother and SIL and their 2 kids) will come first, followed by friends and employees. They have given a home to 3 employees so far. Two of them just recently moved out to their own place, and one is still with them. And they now have a two-year-old plus 4 cats and the dog. I'm not going to be anywhere near the top of their list of people to give rides to, most likely.

I don't feel that I can muscle in and say, "What about me?" I wouldn't want them to go out of their way to help me if they have to neglect others they care about.


HUD building people don't get a lot of services. Those who have helpers paid for by the state are better off. I'm very lucky in having a next door neighbor now who not only isn't deaf (my other neighbors are)--she's worked for over 20 years as one of those helpers, even working for people in this building, and she's very good at it even though she's now over 70.

She and I are on friendly terms, and recently she told me that if I ever need a ride or any help, to call on her. Believe me, I will do that. Usually she's on the job, working for clients. She is so nice that I'm sure she'd do whatever she could.

[Virginia]

Agate, knowing you have such a neighbor makes me feel mildly better. However, don't wait too long to let her know that if you have to evacuate you will likely need help.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

agate ~

The management of your building continues to disappoint me. Aren't most of the residents Seniors and/or disabled? If I was the manager of the building or the CEO of the management company, I would tell residents, "If you don't have a car or access to transportation, we will provide transportation for you to the nearest shelter."

Since fires are common in Oregon, as they are in California, I would have determined a means of evacuating all of the residents long before the need arose. Contracting with a bus company, or working with the fire department and police for a strategy to evacuate the residents, taxis, something.

It's wonderful that you have a neighbor, who can help you. I agree with Virginia that you should contact her soon to discuss whether she will be able to help you evacuate. That way, she can know that you'll need help if you get evacuation orders.

How many residents in your building will have transportation? Your friend probably can't transport everyone, and you need to take your wheelchair.

Wouldn't your management company be liable if anyone was stranded, left behind and perished, because they didn't have transportation to evacuate?

You might also want to phone your local police/sheriff's department to let them know that X number of people in your building were told to find transportation, if you have to evacuate, and many/most of the residents don't have vehicles and are Seniors or disabled. This way you alert them that there are vulnerable people in your building, who will need to be rescued. So, if you're told to evacuate, you can call 911, and they'll rescue you.

We had this issue with Jonathan, because we had no way to transport him and all of his vitally needed equipment in case we had to evacuate. It would take us hours to load up our van, and Jon wouldn't have been able to tolerate being without his equipment. He also could no longer sit in his wheelchair.

On the night of our earthquake, the water mains in our neighborhood broke, and our street had water above the curbs gushing down it. We couldn't have evacuated without the fire department's help.

We were already in the radar of the police and fire departments, as they had been here so many times. One time, I asked a firefighter here for Jonathan about evacuating in a disaster. He replied, "You're on our list."

I pray that you do not have to evacuate, but if that does happen, I want you to be as prepared and protected as possible. In this world now, we never know when disaster may strike, so we have to be ready and have a plan in place, when it does.

Finally, I agree with you about planes causing air pollution. Big carbon footprint there! With COVID, there is less air travel, which has resulted in improved air quality (except in fire areas, of course).

Virginia ~

I hope that you won't be affected by the hurricane approaching the Gulf Coast. You probably don't need more rain, where we could definitely use some in the West.

The Pharaoh declared yesterday that dead trees fall over and "then explode." Here's a fact: 68% of forests are on federal lands; 3% are state owned. He also told the California panel, including the Governor, "It will get cooler."

Yes, and as the summer weather arrives, COVID was supposed to die off, or just disappear magically.

My point is ... how many hurricanes have we had so far? More than I can remember, but you would know best, since you've lived through so many.

Not long ago in a conversation with a friend about Heaven and He11, I opined, "We don't know what Heaven is like, but we are already living in He11."

MY UPDATE

The fire nearest me has moved West about 5 miles, increasing its distance from me. It is encroaching upon Mt. Wilson Observatory and is presumed to have destroyed historic cabins from the late 1800s. It has consumed 40,000 acres, and is now 3% contained, down from 6% yesterday. They had a fire break to protect the observatory, but the fire changed direction, as they always do.

Meanwhile, the sky here remains smoky, hazy with obscured sunlight. I haven't been outside at all today. Windows closed. I'm cloistered.

Yesterday, I did something foolish.

The supervisor for the reconstruction of my home, who was just wonderful to me through it all, asked me if I would sell him Jim's treadmill, because he needed to get some exercise. I told him that I wouldn't sell it to him, but I would give it to him. He and his wife are expecting a baby, and he did so much for me, I wanted to give it to him.

Jim wanted this treadmill 6 or 7 years ago, and he used it a few times. But it was in the garage, heavy and difficult to move, and he gave up on it. So, it became a stacking place for boxes, unbelievable amounts of plastic grocery bags from my shopping days and then Instacart. Oh, and laundry baskets.

After I put a load of laundry in the washer, I turned to the treadmill and thought, "Let's get started." I began collecting up the bags first, which revealed the boxes beneath them, which I cannot and will not lift. After a few minutes, I gave up.

Within an hour, I scratched an itch on my upper left arm. Then another above it. I looked, and I saw bites. Then my left calf above my ankle began to itch. I have 6 bites on my calf and 2 bites on my arm.

I immediately washed them with alcohol swabs several times. Then I saturated paper towels in Witch Hazel (you guessed it!) and wrapped my leg and arm. I continue to apply Witch Hazel as it dried out.

I was able to sleep pretty well last night with no itching or discomfort, for which I'm very thankful.

I continued with Witch Hazel today. Finally, I applied Neosporin on the welts, most of which are subsiding.

It has been nearly 36 hours since I got the bites. Some are better, but none are worse. My prayers of thanks are never-ending, because I don't want to go to ER for bites. Probably a spider, but who knows? I didn't see it, obviously.

That is the last time I move anything in the garage. I will tell the supervisor that he will need to bring a couple of guys with him to unload everything on the treadmill and cart it away. It's more than I can manage. I want him to have it, as I know he needs it. But I'm not going to get eaten alive trying to clear it off for him.

Many prayers and all of my love for everyone ~ be well, be safe, be as content as you can be despite everything else.

Love & Light,



Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!

[stillstANNding]

...A memo just came around in this building from the management company--3 pages about the fire. The company's main office is in another town and they had to evacuate. Luckily they had a location to go to. We're told that if we have to evacuate, we can go to any place where we feel safe or assemble in the lobby and wait for news about an evacuation site to go to.

Those without cars are told to "have an idea for transportation."

What did they have in mind? A magic carpet? Outrageous!

Yes, please ask for help from friends and your son soon. Do not delay!

ANN

[agate]

Rose, I think it's very sensible to back off from anything involving the garage. The bites don't sound like fun at all. I hope they'll clear up. You don't need to chance getting more of them.

Everyone in this building is a senior and/or disabled. A few people are pretty much confined to bed. Several are over 90. Over half are now Russians who speak almost no English though they do have a network of people who seem to help them with rides and other resources.

Some are actually Ukrainians, Armenians, and Uzbeks. There are two Romanian couples, and I'm not sure if they admit to knowing Russian or would rather not have anything to do with Russian, but in any case their language isn't at all like Russian. And their English is just passable. They get along in English but with quite a few difficulties in comprehension.

There must be at least 30 cars parked in this lot. So at least half of the residents have cars but some are no longer up to driving, and their cars are just sitting there.

No, my neighbor friend wouldn't be able to take care of everyone here. It was just an offer she made to me--and there are a couple of other people here whom she would help, I'm sure. It's unfair to the others who have no one to call on but most do have someone, I think--the woman on the other side next door has a nephew, a daughter, and other people who come around in addition to a regular helper, and across the way from her is an almost-bedbound woman who has at least two helpers coming regularly. The helpers almost always have cars, and part of their job is to provide transportation as needed for their clients.

Yes, the management company is behaving disgracefully but that's the way it goes with HUD buildings, which are almost always in the hands of a private building-management company that usually has many buildings.

This one has about 6 buildings in this state, a total of 25 in California, Arizona and Texas. They also have "lifeplan communities" in several other states. Not all of the buildings are HUD-subsidized housing.They're so big a concern that residents without cars aren't going to be a problem they're going to try to solve.

During the fire in Tacoma that I mentioned, we had transportation to the various shelters but it was the regular public transportation provided by the city or county. The management did call the residents after a day or two and offer to bring us things we needed. The building manager brought me some cat food and cat litter and some rx's.

The bad fire area that I'm closest to is about 9 miles away and there isn't much wind at all.

This city has a "special needs registry," and residents here have been encouraged to get on that list. I'm on it. So I hope that will help.

stillstANNding, I like that magic carpet idea! I'll see if I can whistle one up at Amazon.

[Virginia]

They say the smoke haze is as far up the east coast as New York. I found that unbelievable. If only it would go to Washington, D.C. and stall over pharoah's house for about another 6 or 7 weeks.

I haven't been out here to see if we could be getting any haze, but I doubt it. We are cooling off and expecting much rain beginning by Thursday.

[agate]

Virginia, I couldn't believe your post and started wondering what smoke haze you were talking about. It's OUR smoke haze, traveling across the continent to you (when we on the west coast thought we had it all to ourselves):

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[Sunshine 2]

I am speechless reading the woes Rose and agate describe . It brings to mind a phrase from “succession”, which is based on theRupert Murdoch family. When there are avoidable deaths on their cruise ship, they refer to them (non-rich, poor) as “Not real Persons”(NRP.)

There is a lot of that going on in our culture. It seems worse than ever.