Random thoughts/Off topic/Last post wins


 
MarkCuda said:
Finding that drone operator will be practically be impossible 🤔
Click to expand...
The FBI is involved. They have caught people using laser pointers on aircraft so I have very little doubt they will catch up with the guy. There are a lot of eyes on this fire and somebody somewhere knows this guy.
 
Ed P said:
The FBI is involved. They have caught people using laser pointers on aircraft so I have very little doubt they will catch up with the guy. There are a lot of eyes on this fire and somebody somewhere knows this guy.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, they take that stuff SERIOUSLY. One night, I was meeting an inbound plane at O'Hare, and suddenly Gummint agents of every type began showing up. So I asked them what was going on. Pilot had radioed in on approach someone "lasered" him. And lemme tell you he was REALLY PO'd. He was hopping mad. They actually had announced it on the news on the radio while I was on my way home that night. he'd been able to pretty precisely locate the where it was, and apparently they caught the offender. People think this stuff is a joke. And it's not
 
@Chris Allingham thanks for the long response you wrote. I had some co-workers with family affected or nearly affected by the Tubbs fire. I've also had friends or family of friends affected by one of the west-slope of the Sierra fires in the past 10 years or so.

We see these events unfold on TV and the internet and they don't seem real at first, but when you travel into one of these areas it is surreal. Even a year or two later seeing the vast area affected is humbling.

What am I going to do for the next time? In the spirit of acting locally it starts with my home. If I can harden it for fire, it may stand a better chance of making it should a wildfire come through.

I've been doing some research and putting together my "should I do this" list and wanted to share this website I came across. I thought it had some great suggestions and recommendations.

firesafemarin.org

Harden Your Home - Fire Safe Marin

Home hardening means reducing the vulnerability to embers and heat. Proper construction techniques and building materials increase the resistance to wildfire.
firesafemarin.org firesafemarin.org
 
DanHoo said:
@Chris Allingham thanks for the long response you wrote. I had some co-workers with family affected or nearly affected by the Tubbs fire. I've also had friends or family of friends affected by one of the west-slope of the Sierra fires in the past 10 years or so.

We see these events unfold on TV and the internet and they don't seem real at first, but when you travel into one of these areas it is surreal. Even a year or two later seeing the vast area affected is humbling.

What am I going to do for the next time? In the spirit of acting locally it starts with my home. If I can harden it for fire, it may stand a better chance of making it should a wildfire come through.

I've been doing some research and putting together my "should I do this" list and wanted to share this website I came across. I thought it had some great suggestions and recommendations.

firesafemarin.org

Harden Your Home - Fire Safe Marin

Home hardening means reducing the vulnerability to embers and heat. Proper construction techniques and building materials increase the resistance to wildfire.
firesafemarin.org firesafemarin.org
Click to expand...
I recall This Old House did a whole series after one of those rounds of fires on just that subject.
 
Earlier this week my wife and I were watching the news, and she said something about the Southern California wildfires- I said it could happen here.

Those words hung in the air and we both looked at each other silently.

Reading essays like this adds some perspective as to what those words actually mean- for what it’s worth:

IMG_8390.jpeg

My mother, Fumiko Kometani, also lost everything. She is a prizewinning author and painter, winner of the Akutagawa Prize, the Murasaki Prize and others. Her house, a Japanese-style two-story near the El Medio bluffs, was always a chaotic jumble, something between a hoarder’s den and an art studio. She’s lost her entire life, every painting, every book, every photo of my late father, every scrap that proves she has lived her life.
She is not going to rebuild her house. It breaks my heart to say this, but her life—not the physical being but the metaphysical essence connected to objects and place—has been lost in the fire, as it has for so many of us.
 
JKalchik said:
<grumble> And the idiots are out.

www.latimes.com

Drone crash disabled a firefighting plane. Many irate with 'shameful' operator

Several viral videos and images appeared to be taken with drones in conflict with a temporary flight restriction issued by the Federal Aviation Administration to protect firefighting aircraft.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

Apparently Quebec 243 is now grounded pending inspection and repairs.

Damage:
View attachment 106367
Click to expand...
And it's been repaired as of yesterday, and back up & flying. Looks like a section of skin, a bit of rib, and a spar were replaced. And a whole lot of rivets.
 
So, we got an offer on the house earlier this month. Less than what we would have liked, but still a respectable offer, and we close on the 31st!
Got a text today from our realtor saying that the buyer wanted to know if we could close earlier in the week if possible!
Well heck, still got a couple things that we're try get a couple repairs done that's still due to be done by Friday, the movers for some larger pieces upstairs that we want to keep, the cleaners won't be here until next Wednesday and it's too late to have the city pick up some bulky stuff that we're getting rid of!
Pammi and I talked about it, and decided that if we moved and grooved, got the cleaners out on Monday, I took stuff TO the dump instead of having them pick it up and the guy accepting a money discount instead of one of the repair being done, we could do it
We contacted the cleaner and they agreed to come on Monday and told the realtor about the $$ instead of the repair
She got back with us fairly quickly and said that the buyer didn't want the $$ instead of a cosmetic repair, so we're back on for next Friday
🤬🤬🤬🤬
 
So, I got the cosmetic repair done today!
The list of repairs is done, I just have to fix a window screen
It's not on the list, but I'm trying to be the bigger person
Tomorrow and Saturday afternoon, moving sale
Sunday, the movers are coming to get the big stuff upstairs and we're moving into the current camper
Monday and Tuesday, getting the last of our stuff out and getting ready for the cleaners on Wednesday
Wednesday, I'll also take the last of the big stuff that we DON'T want to the curb for Thursday's pick up
Friday, we close and become vagabonds!
I'll try to keep our travels updated on here so maybe we can meet some of you fine people!
 
LMichaels said:
My understanding is the operator has already been found and arrested.
Click to expand...
Just a follow-up re: the drone strike during the Pacific Palisades fire...the drone operator turned himself in and made a plea deal. The 56yo man pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreed to pay restitution for the damage to the plane to the government of Quebec, which owns the plane, and do 150hrs of community service. He is still looking at a federal charge that could mean a year in jail. He was flying the drone from about 1.5mi away when he lost track of it. The pilots noticed the wing damage after they landed and found parts of the drone inside the wing that identified the drone owner. It's believed the drone strike happened over the Pacific Ocean.
 
Ok, we’re officially vagabonds! Closed on the house this morning
I’m getting a fifth wheel hitch installed tomorrow, and we get the new camper on Monday
We’re going to get a U-Haul cargo trailer tomorrow to store all of the crap that we’ve got stored in this camper and stuff from our storage room
I really hope that the campground is cool with the second smaller trailer here for a day or two!
 
Phil Perrin said:
Ok, we’re officially vagabonds! Closed on the house this morning
I’m getting a fifth wheel hitch installed tomorrow, and we get the new camper on Monday
We’re going to get a U-Haul cargo trailer tomorrow to store all of the crap that we’ve got stored in this camper and stuff from our storage room
I really hope that the campground is cool with the second smaller trailer here for a day or two!
Click to expand...
Congratulations!
 
80 years ago today…


IMG_8484.jpeg

www.defense.gov

Battle of Iwo Jima: 80 Years Later, Lessons Learned

The Battle of Iwo Jima was difficult and strategically important, putting U.S. heavy bombers in range of mainland Japan.
www.defense.gov

The island, only 8 square miles in area, was considered crucial to the strategy of the Pacific campaign because capturing it would put heavy bombers within a close 750-mile strike range of mainland Japan using the island's three airfields.

The task for doing this fell to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine divisions, the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment and the Navy's 5th Fleet.

The invasion fleet consisted of about 70,000 Marines, around 450 naval ships of various types, as well as several thousand Navy Seabees. The Seabees were naval engineers who were experts at building roads and would be needed to reopen the island's three airfields.




Men in uniform disembark from a landing craft onto a beach and run on the sand with smoke in the background.



Over the course of the battle, the Marines suffered more than 25,000 casualties, including nearly 7,000 deaths. The casualty rate was so high that the regiment landed a month later to help with mopping-up operations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top