Tonight on the local news they were interviewing someone who had a home in the mobile home park in Sylmar that burned over the weekend. He was talking about the Italian cypress trees that were planted all over the park and how they were an extreme fire hazard. They are a very dry evergreen and just a spark or two will cause them to go up like a torch.

I am going to contract with my gardener to cut down my Italian cypress trees. As close as I live to the mountains, I don’t think it’s a good idea to propagate fire torches in my backyard.

I have no idea how to use the Wii–or even how to hook it up–but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Or I’ll call Patrick.

This is absolutely not something that I need to be doing right now since I know it will mean countless hours of game playing ’cause Animal Crossing is totally addicting. And I really don’t have lots of free time right now, what with the holidays coming up. So possibly I will hold off on hooking it up until Christmas. Or maybe at least wait until Thanksgiving. I just know what will happen if I start playing now–nothing else will get done!

I feel kind of guilty getting excited about a game system with all the terrible fire news this weekend but, as with everything, life goes on. I’ve spent all weekend watching the fires and feeling sorry for all those who lost homes and possessions. I can’t do anything to change what happened. So I go on and look forward to Wednesday when my Wii arrives.

Whee!!!

I’m not complaining, though. It could be far, far worse.

None of the fires is even close to containment and the embers are blowing and starting additional fires. It just seems to be a never ending battle. I’ve had the tv on all day, switching from one station to another watching continuous fire coverage. Some have had nothing but fire coverage on since last night at 11 pm.

I just don’t understand how all these fires are starting. Seems very suspicious.

Even though it was very hot today (low 90’s), it didn’t seem all that warm outside since the humidity is so low (5%). So I spent 2-3 hours in the backyard doing some more trimming of bushes. I’ve almost filled the yard waste can so will only be able to do a small amount of trimming tomorrow before I’m out of space to toss stuff. Probably just as well since I have plenty to do inside the house since I just realized it’s less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving! Kinda hard to get in the mood for the holidays when the temps are up in the 90’s.

Houses are burning in the neighborhoods in the foothills, neighborhoods that are just like where I live. That must be really frightening for those people. They just showed a large panoramic view of the fire and it is HUGE! It is now burning right up against UCLA Olive View Medical Center, a large hospital facility. Don’t know if they’re evacuating patients yet.

I’m going to get out in my yard and do more trimming of bushes, shrubs, etc. tomorrow. I don’t want to provide additional fuel for any possible fires around here. I’m almost afraid to go to sleep tonight. They’re describing this as a raging fire out of control. It’s going to be a tough night.

Sorry Father, but I don’t agree that you can declare voting for one candidate or another sinful due to a candidates views. When did you become God?! And what about previous Presidents who had views that might have been in conflict with the laws of God–views regarding torture, adultery, lies, theft, etc. Oh, but those guys were okay because they never came out and said how they felt and we didn’t know about lots of this stuff until after the fact when it was too late to declare our votes sinful.

So every Catholic be forewarned: you are going to Hell (or at least for a stint in Purgatory) unless you repent today for your vote last week for Obama! Get off to confession now!!! Don’t take the chance that you might get hit by a car and not have time to do penance for your sinful ways in the voting booth!

Another reason why……forget it. Enough said.

After reading all the political blogs this morning, I finally decided to do something other than watch tv or surf the net. So I started in trimming bushes and plants in the backyard. First, one of my fingers got to close to the clippers and and cut a big slash in the fingertip. Great. Blood was gushing and dripping everywhere. After cleanup and bandaging, I decided to put on gloves and continue the trimming. Then the rains hit. Didn’t last long, so I went back at it after about 1/2 hour. However, before I could pick up the trimmings, the next round of rains hit and were heavy and included thunder. So I gave up on the trimming for the day. At least I still have tomorrow to clean up.

So it was back to the internet, CNN and MSNBC for the rest of the day. Got some cleaning done inside and enjoyed the sound and smell of the first rain of the season pouring outside. And now will start moving back all the clocks. Nice knowing I’ll get an extra hour of sleep tonight, but I know I’ll hate it tomorrow when it starts getting dark around 5 pm. It was good while it lasted.

Work is good although busy right now. My supervisor is on a sabbatical until the end of the year, so I’ve had to assume a lot of her responsibilities. Some of that is ok, but it still makes for a really busy day. Guess I should be glad that all my days seem to fly by.

Talked with Patrick tonight, and he and Veronica are going to come over Tuesday night to watch the election returns. Should be fun eating Chinese food and watching Obama win!

PS - Good start to the Lakers’ season–they beat Portland 96-76!