This, That, and Then Some

I know it’s been forever and a day since I have written anything, but since I have been out of work for a couple of days, and the county of San Diego California is burning down around us, I guess I have a bit more time on my hands!

There are many fires burning in San Diego. It all started with those *#&%^ lovely Santa Ana winds that kick up every frelling year! Last Sunday, at about 1pm changed our week for the worse. A fire started in Witch Creek which is Eastern San Diego, Northern most in the county. Thanks to the high winds (some up to 80mph) it spread rapidly and engulfed Ramona and other surrounding cities.

So for the past three days, we have been holed up in the house, waiting for our turn to be evacuated. Within the past 24 hours, two new fires sprang up not too far from where we live. Basically, San Diego has come to a standstill. Businesses are closed, people are staying in motels, RV’s, Qualcomm stadium, and schools. Even though many homes will be spared, for the moment, nearly a thousand people are homeless.

Now, finally, after hundreds of thousands of acres burned throughout Southern California (fires in Orange County, and Los Angeles too), hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed, some people are finally being allowed back to their homes - if there is one.

Disaster recovery has been immense, but run like clockwork. Of course, there are always issues that come with disasters - nothing is perfect, but the overall organization and safety of residents has resulted in very few injuries, and only one death. I’d say San Diego has learned quite a bit from its experience 4 years ago.

So we are still waiting, ’cause it’s not over yet. Some of the fires North of us are still raging and nothing is contained there. Now that the winds have died (I hate Santa Ana winds anyway!), the fires are not spreading as quickly. My girlfriend’s family had to evacuate early Monday and they still don’t know if they have a house to come home to. Her sisters are in the middle of some of the fires, no clue as to what will happen there. Not knowing is the worst.

I have never been in the middle of a fire of this magnitude. We count ourselves damn lucky that we have survived the worst of it this long. But, they estimate these fires will not be contained for another several days or more. Scary shit.

It used to be that when we were children, you played games, got into fights, wrestled (or wrastled, depending on where you lived), fell down, got banged up, or just plain screaming and yelling and having fun playing games.

Now, all that is ending. Certain members of society are slowly banning normal childhood activities, removing fun and games, simply because little Johnny or Sarah isn’t always happy. Take this for example:

“It causes a lot of conflict on the playground,” said Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal of the Discovery Canyon Campus school. An elementary school in Colorado Springs has banned tag on its playground after some children complained they were harassed or chased against their will.

Banned tag? You MUST be kidding? An age old game that millions of children have played is now taboo?

Here’s another story for ya…

About three years ago, my niece was at her grade school (grade 6) and she was playing on the school grounds with her friends. Her friends were acting out a scene and pretending a tree was her boyfriend in order to complete the scene. My niece walked over to the tree, slapped it and said “How dare you cheat on me!”

A school supervisor saw this, called her into the office where she was suspended for sexually harrassing a tree. How’s that for rational thought?
When a kid cannot be a kid, we open their world up to a whole set of problems that effect them for the rest of their lives. WIth all these new rules to prevent poor little junior from being upset by the simplest things, does this really prevent any future problems? Do we see our kids being better than before? Or are they acting out more problems because we are making them weaker by preventing them from experiencing a real childhood?

More and more there are reports of contaminated food, whether it’s food poisoning from a fast food restaurant to salmonella in your peanut butter. Huh? Salmonella in peanut butter? And now they recently recalled fresh spinach from California farms for testing positive with salmonella - again!

How is this happening? More importantly, why is this happening? Are workers in food processing facilities becoming lazy and not cleaning the equipment properly, or handling the food in a sanitary manner? Do they wash their hands after using the toilet? Is someone throwing dead chickens into the vats?

Let’s get back to the salmonella in the peanut butter issue. How in the world, does salmonella, a bacteria found in pork, chicken, and eggs as well as other fowl, find its way into a peanut processing plant? Peanuts aren’t chickens, so where does this come from? Maybe someone has a clue, because with all the technical advances and gadgetry, why does it sometimes feel as though we are living in a third world country, where food preparation is not properly accomplished and basic hygiene is not followed?

Either the people who are supposed to be regulating the restaurants and plants are way too busy to check on everyone or they are looking the other way. Something has to be done about the lack of health concerns when it comes to the food industries.

Hey I understand that once in a while it can happen - but salmonella in peanut butter?

What do you think should be done about it. Should we write letters to our Congress? Senator?