Well, At Least It’s Not 95 Degrees…
After a couple of cool days (relatively speeking) last week, the temperature has soared again into the 90+ region for downtown (I hear 80+ at the South Bay beaches, which is unheard of in November). But then, no, not the marine layer, but the “smoke layer” rolled-in this morning, product of the out of control fires burning to the east and west of downtown. I have never seen so much smoke so far from a fire… it really kept the temperature down today, and made me keep wiping my eyes thinking I had something in my contact lens. Growing up in Indiana, we had huge leaf-burning events weekly as we tried to dispose of the mountains of leaves that we raked from out heavily tree-ladens lawns. When all the neighbors ignited their leaf piles on the same evening, the atmosphere would get similar to as it is downtown today- misty looking with a heavy smoky smell that would linger in your clothes. I will have to bring my camera to office in Encino tomorrow as I have a window that looks out over Sylmar and may still have columns of smoke rising up.
This year has been one of the worst fire seasons in my 20+ year memory. It seems that every time the Santa Ana winds whip up, there is another devestating fire. The ignition point or cause for these recent fires has not been determined yet, but it seems that more and more these fires are caused by deranged arsonists- what sick individuals there are in this world…
Yeah, these fires are really bad this time around. Which means I will be super busy at work for the next - oh, year or so - - I deal with homeowners insurance issues, and I’m specifically in the Fire Unit - yay for me.
The air quality was TERRIBLE. I normally keep all my windows open 24/7 and have for most of the last year (temp stays pretty regulated in my unit), but I finally had to close them today.
Something I noticed with all the windows closed: my dog has awful gas. I guess with the windows open, I never really noticed, but egad! For such a little dog…and I feed her such good expensive food, too….
So now I get to decide if I want my eyes burning from noxious fumes from my dog or the fires. I gotta find a fix for this problem.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:14 amYou poor girl- having to deal with homeowners after their house burns to the ground. Not a very “uplifting” job I would imagine.
So Nina has a gas problem? My White Dog at least is ok in that dept., although I caught her nibbling a little on my new silk comfortor. A think I’d rather have her put out noxious gas then wreck my linens and get goose down all over. Consider yourself lucky!
November 17th, 2008 at 6:55 amCarter’s butt has been known to not smell so great from time to time. His thing is to pass gas and then get up and leave to lay somewhere else.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pmI discovered this morning that Nina has been eating my food. The pawprints on the glasstop oven and my empty Ma Petit “doggie” bag confirmed this. I guess she wasn’t jumping up on the counter when she was preggo, but now that’s she’s got her girlish figure back, she’s quite spry. That must be the reason for the gas. Regardless, seeing as she woke me up in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep with her silent bombs, we will be going to PetCo tonight to pick up a some doggie Beano.
Ya know, E, my job ain’t so bad. 1.) I’m happy to have a steady job that pays decent, in this economic state we’re in. 2.) Yes, it’s depressing sometimes to hear about the tragedies, but we’re there to help, and in most cases we are successful(whether it’s just educating people on their insurance, or really putting pressure on insurance companies to pay on claims or even if we’re just there to let people vent), so the job is quite rewarding most of the time. My only complaints are that I’m the youngest in the dept (social scene at this company not so hot) and the archaic office politics/policies. Other than that, I really love my job, so I consider myself luckier than most.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:30 pm“His thing is to pass gas and then get up and leave to lay somewhere else.”
That is EXACTLY what Suzy does…she tries to play it off, but we know what’s going on…
November 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pmNina is quite the jumper! Isis can’t get 4 feet on the stove/counter, but she can take food off of counter if it’s near the edge. So she got you Ma Petit- bummer!
It sounds like your job isn’t like I thought, and yes, in these economic times, we have to keep reminding ourselves how fortunate we are (although it looks like I’ll be done w/ my contract before Xmas and that’s a really hard time to get a new gig, but what can I do except try).
November 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm