12/5/09 -- DUMMY -- The Cruise Your Heart Desires Most ; )

[tom31b]

Um can you take a wee little 8 hour detour north?

You are driving the bus down, aren't you?

 

[allshookup]

Well........now if you can manage the other four days.........we will all be quiet.


Do not encourage her!!



I should be very afraid now. Let me guess.........a poodle head???



Not enough!!!! Unless you make a slight detour to the west(like Chicago).



Wow Tom...........now if I only had the money to fly out their. That is a bargain and sure helps . Anyone got any extra freqyent flyer tickets.

Hey Cheryl...Mike's got a special picture for ya!

You are driving the bus down, aren't you?

Yeaaaaaaa! That's the ticket!

 

[captaincrash]

Hi Tom!

Well those are some excellent savings! Thanks for posting them! Too bad we can't take advantage, but I'm sure someone will find them useful!

Went to dinner last night with Mary Ann, Chrissie, Mike & families. It was very very nice & I think Mike will have some pictures to post. I just hope he photoshops mine first!

Are you near the fires? I hope you're not getting too much smoke!

Gee...

... you folks seem to ALWAYS be getting together. That's beautiful! And thanks for the consideration on the fires. Strange how in past years we did not seem to have as many fires - but now it seems they are threatening more often with sometimes disasterous effect. Strange.

At any rate, the fires in Santa Barbara are about 50 miles north of us with concentrated damage in a "tony" Rich Folks enclave called Montecito... IE...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iN8c71lHTVzdWEp8zur8h6JXymJgD94EVBK80

Montecito is home to the rich and famous, but not flashy. It's exclusive, but not haughty. And it's far enough from the sprawl of Los Angeles for comfort — while still close enough for convenience.

People who live in this coastal enclave tucked between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains call it a paradise, one that has long drawn old money and, in recent years, flush celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Rob Lowe.

Residents extolled Montecito's charms Friday, even as the Santa Barbara community surrendered a swath of its multimillion-dollar homes to a brutal wildfire. Lowe and his family fled the approaching flames Thursday night, although their home had escaped damage as of midday Friday.

"It's very expensive, very dramatic. It's like the coast of Monte Carlo," with a perfect Mediterranean climate, said longtime real estate agent Bill Vaughan, who pegged the median value of homes — despite the ongoing slump in housing prices — at $2 million.

Lush stands of oak and eucalyptus trees give a wooded accent to Montecito, Vaughn noted, as well as increase the fire danger. About 10,000 people live in the unincorporated Santa Barbara County community, he said.

Families from the East Coast with industrial fortunes long ago discovered the area's charms, to be joined later by celebrities who found a pocket of luxury and seclusion not far from the Los Angeles-based entertainment industry.

Jeff Bridges, Ellen DeGeneres, John Cleese and Michael Douglas are among those who live in the area or once owned homes there. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver have purchased a 25-acre tract for $4.7 million.

... [ed]...

So... no, I don't live amongst the ultra high dollar well to do sorts who are fortunate enough to wheel around in that part of town. Sad that they might have sufferred so much loss though. It matter not who or how much or littl one has in times like this.

Aside from this relatively near by fire (Santa Barbara north of us) ... the other major concentrations of FIRE damage so far are in Sylmar where they lost some 485+ mobile homes ... that's maybe 25 miles away or so to the south east.... and 77 miles away is Anaheim Hills where a "triangle" of cities represents the area of danger. I believe over 100 homes were destroied there. All told the figure exceeds 800 homes destroied (or heavily damaged).

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocfireweb-2008nov16,0,4261049.story​

I spoke to an off-duty firefighter a couple of weeks ago - and he described how with their resources on hand - often they look at a burning home and cannot save it when an entire neighborhood is buring and otherwise threatened. They have to make tough choices and CHOOSE to save what they can with whatever equipment and manpower they have on hand. Frankly, it's a tough and often dangerous job... and no disrespect is intended with my remarks here. But to think they get caught with an inability to effectively fight a fire - in spite of having dozens or HUNDREDS of firefighting crews + numerous aircraft - rotary wing - fixed wing - plus that enormous DC-10 fire retardant dropping jumbo jet (!) .... is pretty amazing.

Alicia and I were reflecting on the fire we had a scant 40 yards behind our home last year. At night they were employing several helicopters AT NIGHT... something you almost never see done out here - and that evening the winds faded - otherwise IF... IF we had the normal high winds at sunset or (gulp) during the day .... then whom ever was in the path of those winds with a FIRE STORM in front of it would have lost thier homes. Yeah... imagine a DRY wind storm thats about half the strength of a hurricane with a raging wall of FIRE mixed into it... and you can imagine how some unlucky communities get torched. I think last years fires wiped out some 4000 homes - mostly in San Diego county. Those fire fighting officials down there aired complaints that the folks north of them in LA got a disporportionate share of the aerial fire-fighting resources. Resulting in huge losses for them and comparatively little loss in our region. Gee....???

At any rate... the high winds - often referred to as Santa Ana winds - http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html are farely mild where we are. Well, actually on saturday the winds were really bad when we were playing our soccer game (12 noon) ... but they seem OK today. But the skies are rusty brown with the stench from the fires in the north, east and south of us. It's almost like being surrounded by fire disaster areas here.

At any rate - time fer me ta grab some dinner. I brought home a ton of take out fer supper. TTFN!

 

[tom31b]

Gee...

... you folks seem to ALWAYS be getting together. That's beautiful! And thanks for the consideration on the fires. Strange how in past years we did not seem to have as many fires - but now it seems they are threatening more often with sometimes disasterous effect. Strange.

At any rate, the fires in Santa Barbara are about 50 miles north of us with concentrated damage in a "tony" Rich Folks enclave called Montecito... IE...



So... no, I don't live amongst the ultra high dollar well to do sorts who are fortunate enough to wheel around in that part of town. Sad that they might have sufferred so much loss though. It matter not who or how much or littl one has in times like this.

Aside from this relatively near by fire (Santa Barbara north of us) ... the other major concentrations of FIRE damage so far are in Sylmar where they lost some 485+ mobile homes ... that's maybe 25 miles away or so to the south east.... and 77 miles away is Anaheim Hills where a "triangle" of cities represents the area of danger. I believe over 100 homes were destroied there. All told the figure exceeds 800 homes destroied (or heavily damaged).

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocfireweb-2008nov16,0,4261049.story​

I spoke to an off-duty firefighter a couple of weeks ago - and he described how with their resources on hand - often they look at a burning home and cannot save it when an entire neighborhood is buring and otherwise threatened. They have to make tough choices and CHOOSE to save what they can with whatever equipment and manpower they have on hand. Frankly, it's a tough and often dangerous job... and no disrespect is intended with my remarks here. But to think they get caught with an inability to effectively fight a fire - in spite of having dozens or HUNDREDS of firefighting crews + numerous aircraft - rotary wing - fixed wing - plus that enormous DC-10 fire retardant dropping jumbo jet (!) .... is pretty amazing.

Alicia and I were reflecting on the fire we had a scant 40 yards behind our home last year. At night they were employing several helicopters AT NIGHT... something you almost never see done out here - and that evening the winds faded - otherwise IF... IF we had the normal high winds at sunset or (gulp) during the day .... then whom ever was in the path of those winds with a FIRE STORM in front of it would have lost thier homes. Yeah... imagine a DRY wind storm thats about half the strength of a hurricane with a raging wall of FIRE mixed into it... and you can imagine how some unlucky communities get torched. I think last years fires wiped out some 4000 homes - mostly in San Diego county. Those fire fighting officials down there aired complaints that the folks north of them in LA got a disporportionate share of the aerial fire-fighting resources. Resulting in huge losses for them and comparatively little loss in our region. Gee....???

At any rate... the high winds - often referred to as Santa Ana winds - http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html are farely mild where we are. Well, actually on saturday the winds were really bad when we were playing our soccer game (12 noon) ... but they seem OK today. But the skies are rusty brown with the stench from the fires in the north, east and south of us. It's almost like being surrounded by fire disaster areas here.

At any rate - time fer me ta grab some dinner. I brought home a ton of take out fer supper. TTFN!

Glad to hear you are ok, chatted with Roger earlier and they are ok, anyone know about the rest of our Califorinia friends?

Here is an interesting product I saw a few years ago that is made from the same stuff in disposable baby diapers http://www.barricadegel.com/

 

[got2travel]

Glad to hear you are ok, chatted with Roger earlier and they are ok, anyone know about the rest of our Califorinia friends?

Here is an interesting product I saw a few years ago that is made from the same stuff in disposable baby diapers http://www.barricadegel.com/

Laura is pretty close to the fires. She posted these pictures over on our 2010 thread. She hasn't checked back in since about 2pm PST.

Hey guys, just thought I'd post a couple of pictures of what we are experiencing. I am about 16 miles from the fires and our office is about 5 miles away. Haven't heard anything about from the police or fire station so I am assuming we are good. DH doesn't seem too concerned about it. But here you are:

Just thought I'd post some pictures of our view - things are much better today than yesterday.

Here was my view at 8:45 am. The sky was unbelievably orange:

The the view from my back yard at 12 noon: You can see the difference in the sky - the cloudy part was what we had but more grey yesterday all day.

This was the center of my pool:

The ground as I walked out this morning:

And the hood of my car:

I stayed indoors much of yesterday until I got the jitterbug and so I went to the mall and discovered that Nordstrom's was having a shoe sale and I ended up picking up some short UGG boots on sale for 1/2 price. They were last years model but they have the rubber sole and can be used in rainy weather. 1/2 price (I picked some up as Christmas gifts)

 

[cruisin'Mike]

Hi Tom!

Well those are some excellent savings! Thanks for posting them! Too bad we can't take advantage, but I'm sure someone will find them useful!

Went to dinner last night with Mary Ann, Chrissie, Mike & families. It was very very nice & I think Mike will have some pictures to post. I just hope he photoshops mine first!

Are you near the fires? I hope you're not getting too much smoke!

We had a great weekend, and made it home safely. We had been wanting to go to Salem for years, and we finally decided to make it up there. It was a fun day, and getting to share it with Chrissie, Mary Ann, Diane, and their families made it even better.

Here's a picture of the big kids after dinner.

Hey Cheryl...Mike's got a special picture for ya!



Yeaaaaaaa! That's the ticket!

Here you go Cheryl. Take your pick! Steamed or baked stuffed lobstah!

 

[goofyforlife]

I should be very afraid now. Let me guess.........a poodle head???

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

 

[magiroux]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

Sorry to hear things are not looking up for you, K. Hang in there

Lots of good thoughts, PD and prayers coming your way

 

[magiroux]

We had a great weekend, and made it home safely. We had been wanting to go to Salem for years, and we finally decided to make it up there. It was a fun day, and getting to share it with Chrissie, Mary Ann, Diane, and their families made it even better.

Here's a picture of the big kids after dinner.


Here you go Cheryl. Take your pick! Steamed or baked stuffed lobstah!

......what, no shrimp!?!?!?

Glad you all made it home safely, Mike. Thank you all for such a wonderful day. We all really enjoyed ourselves.

 

[captaincrash]

......what, no shrimp!?!?!?

Glad you all made it home safely, Mike. Thank you all for such a wonderful day. We all really enjoyed ourselves.

...[ed]...
Here you go Cheryl. Take your pick! Steamed or baked stuffed lobstah!

Those lobsters look terriffic!

And I say this with complete honesty as I chomp down my spaghetti and turkey meat ball late supper...
< wink >​

 

[captaincrash]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

K...

...this image below shows things for you CANNOT be "all that" - because you're not dancin' with a crazed expression in a tutu with a crowd like that depicted below here ...

Well... not yet at least.

.
.
.
.
.
.

Seriously,

Hang in there K... patient persistance... and you shall prevail.​

 

[Stepht5]

We had a great weekend, and made it home safely. We had been wanting to go to Salem for years, and we finally decided to make it up there. It was a fun day, and getting to share it with Chrissie, Mary Ann, Diane, and their families made it even better.

Here's a picture of the big kids after dinner.

It looks like y'all had a great time!!! How wonderful!!!

Diane, did I notice that you were leaning far over so as not to be in the photo with the lobsters?

My weekend wasn't nearly as exciting.....Saturady I took my brother (the one that just got out of the hospital and is going through chemo) to Costco. He wanted to pick up a few things and he can't go places on his own -- he can drive but, he needs someone to be with him while he holds onto the cart and walks. His S/O was working on Saturday.

Sunday I got to watch DH & Elvis play WOW since a new expansion pack came out a few days ago.... We did go to Bed, Bath & Beyond and buy new pots & pans! LOL!

 

[allshookup]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

Ha what a very cute Cheryl you made there!

Hang in there K! At least know you got a bunch of friends here pulling for ya!

It looks like y'all had a great time!!! How wonderful!!!

Diane, did I notice that you were leaning far over so as not to be in the photo with the lobsters?

My weekend wasn't nearly as exciting.....Saturady I took my brother (the one that just got out of the hospital and is going through chemo) to Costco. He wanted to pick up a few things and he can't go places on his own -- he can drive but, he needs someone to be with him while he holds onto the cart and walks. His S/O was working on Saturday.

Sunday I got to watch DH & Elvis play WOW since a new expansion pack came out a few days ago.... We did go to Bed, Bath & Beyond and buy new pots & pans! LOL!

Very perceptive Steph! Notice my DH could care less! The ham!

That was nice of you to assist DB with his shopping. You're a good sis & I'm sure it helps him a lot to get out & about & keep moving. Sending good thoughts his way & yours!

 

[micmse2003]

We had a great weekend, and made it home safely. We had been wanting to go to Salem for years, and we finally decided to make it up there. It was a fun day, and getting to share it with Chrissie, Mary Ann, Diane, and their families made it even better.

Here's a picture of the big kids after dinner.

Here you go Cheryl. Take your pick! Steamed or baked stuffed lobstah!

OMG.........drool is all over the keyboard!!! Looks like you all had a great time. I have never had steamed lobster........but lobster is lobster.

......what, no shrimp!?!?!?

Glad you all made it home safely, Mike. Thank you all for such a wonderful day. We all really enjoyed ourselves.

Yes you are right. NO SHRIMP PLATTER. That is because I was not there. How are you doing???

It looks like y'all had a great time!!! How wonderful!!!

Diane, did I notice that you were leaning far over so as not to be in the photo with the lobsters?

My weekend wasn't nearly as exciting.....Saturady I took my brother (the one that just got out of the hospital and is going through chemo) to Costco. He wanted to pick up a few things and he can't go places on his own -- he can drive but, he needs someone to be with him while he holds onto the cart and walks. His S/O was working on Saturday.

Sunday I got to watch DH & Elvis play WOW since a new expansion pack came out a few days ago.... We did go to Bed, Bath & Beyond and buy new pots & pans! LOL!

I bet your brother is so happy you are there to give him all your love and support.

Okay......for us older people(I did not say old) what is a WOW???

 

[micmse2003]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

Thank you for your creative talent..........notice my signature. Please hang in there. You and your family can always have my couch.

 

[Downrivermama]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

Hey K! I was wondering how things were going. Hang in there. Say hey to Andy and Devon for us!

 

[Stepht5]

Very perceptive Steph! Notice my DH could care less! The ham!

That was nice of you to assist DB with his shopping. You're a good sis & I'm sure it helps him a lot to get out & about & keep moving. Sending good thoughts his way & yours!

Thanks he can use them! Somedays it seems it is a couple of steps forward and then we go backwards! UGH!!!
He had a Dr's appt this morning - his S/O went with him.

I bet your brother is so happy you are there to give him all your love and support.

Okay......for us older people(I did not say old) what is a WOW???

I know my brother is happy to have me (us) here for him. I'm pretty dependable!

WOW = World Of Warcraft

Thank you for your creative talent..........notice my signature. Please hang in there. You and your family can always have my couch.

Hey! K, it's not that cold here in TX....... High 60's to mid 70's all week.......

 

[goofyforlife]

Hey! K, it's not that cold here in TX....... High 60's to mid 70's all week.......

and you guys have bugs as big as Texas......

(or so i've heard)

 

[cruisin'Mike]

It's not that bad...

Hmmm where've i been... Hell is a place i'm quite familiar with...

I haven't been hanging out here too much cause frankly it makes me sadder right now...

I worked Friday night till 10...came home and fell asleep... Went back to work all afternoon Sat... Then went back in today...

Back to crappy day job tomorrow... Gotta follow up on two apps i have in for 3rd jobs tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry to be the humbug... I just don't have it in me this year...

I appreciate all the kind thoughts and prayers though.

Hey K,

Linda and I are sending our prayers and best wishes your way too. We hope that you find a great job soon. Know that you have so many friends who really care about you and your family.

 

[cruisin'Mike]

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Salem!

As you can see, the girls had fun letting their "witch flags" fly!!!!