I'm a San Diego Oldtimer Now...

A Facebook friend posted this - thank you Margaret!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN OLD -TIMER FROM SAN DIEGO WHEN ~

1. You can correctly pronounce Tierrasanta, La Jolla, Rancho Penasquitos, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Jamul, Jacumba, and El Cajon - and know where they are.

2. There are four distinct seasons: Summer, Not Quite Summer, Almost Summer, and "Oh, hey look, it's Summer again."

3. Your high school had a surf team.

4. Insane Diego and Chulajuana are real towns. So are San Yskidrow, Venereal Beach, and International City.

5. Your house is worth more than some small countries.

6. You know what IB, MB, OB, and PB stand for.

7. Every street name is either in Spanish or Spanish related, and you're surprised when other areas don't have this.

8. You can determine the accuracy of someone's "I'm ghetto" a claim by knowing their high school. For example El Camino High School or Crawford High.

9. You see weather forecasts for four different climate zones in the same county – and aren't remotely surprised.

10. You've gone to Mt. Helix in July and know you still need a jacket (60 degrees is COLD!).

11. You remember going to "The Cross" on Mt. Helix for Easter services.

12. You've tailgated at Qualcomm Stadium, and for bonus points, also tailgated when it was Jack Murphy Stadium. [(Extra bonus points for Balboa Park/Chargers and/or Westgate Park/AAA Padres!]

13. You know that "Charge!" doesn't refer to a credit card.

14. You remember going downtown via Federal Blvd. before Hwy 94 was built.

15. You remember when Hwy 94 was two lanes in each direction and Bonita Road was one lane in each direction.

16. You've been on a field trip to see an Imax movie at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center.

17. You still call it the Del Mar Fair. [They call it something else?]

18. You say "I'm going to the track!" and people know what you are talking about.

19. You say "I'm going to the park!" and people know what you mean.

20. You remember when Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Spring Valley, 

and El Cajon were "out in the sticks."

21. You remember the El Cortez as the city’s tallest building.

22. You understand what "May-gray" and "June-gloom" means.

23. A famous skateboarder/surfer lives in your town.

24. There's "North County," "South County," and "East County" but no "Central County."

25. You know what it means when a girl in a short skirt is walking on El Cajon Blvd.

26. You know what "the merge" is, and you'll plan your entire day around not being on it during rush hour.

27. You know the difference between Clairemont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, and Mira Mesa.

28. You've stayed home from school or work, because "It's raining!"

29. You've gone to Sea World on a warm day and sat in the first few rows at the Shamu show to get cooled off.

30. You've been delayed at the border checkpoints at Tijuana and/or Tecate.

31. Your house doesn't have or need air conditioning – unless you live in East County.

32. No matter what the weather is, there is always someone walking around in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops.

33. You've been to the desert, the mountains, and the beach all n one day.

34. You know that Santee and Lakeside are where the 'cowboys' live.

35. You know why Hillcrest is known as 'The Swish Alps.'

36. You hate tourists and their bad driving (but you don't know how to drive in the rain).

37. You've gone to the Zoo just to hang out.

38. You know someone who doesn't own long pants.

39. You know what a 'Santa Ana’ is, and you know it has nothing to do with the city of Santa Ana.

40. You know what 'real Mexican food' tastes like.

41. You remember when 'Mission Valley' was cow pastures, carrot farms, and dairies (oh...to have bought some of that land then!). Ditto with Coronado.

42. You remember when Lemon Grove had "the cows."

43. You remember when Chula Vista was a small town and all that was east of it was miles of Otay Ranch before Otay Lakes.

44. You remember the Big Sky, College, Harbor, and South Bay drive-ins.

45. You remember when real sports teams played at the Sports Arena.

46. Escondido was a long way off and there wasn't anything in between.

47. There wasn't an I-805, I-8, I-15 or I-5. You went on Highway 80, Highway 395 and the Pacific Coast Highway (especially to get to Disneyland).

48. National City stunk.

49. The Navy and the tuna fleet were THE big employers.

50. Getting to Coronado [or away] was a boat ride or a long trip in the car.

Ah, the memories.  I even went to Lane Field to see the Padres in the early 1950s.  

You Know When You're From San Diego If:

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM SAN DIEGO IF...

1. You can correctly pronounce Tierrasanta, La Jolla, Rancho Penesquitos, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Jamul, and El Cajon, and know where they are.
2. There are four distinct seasons: Summer, Not Quite Summer, Almost Summer, and oh, Hey look its summer again.
3. Your house is worth more than some small countries.
4. You know what MB, OB, and PB stand for.
5. Every street name is either in Spanish or Spanish related, and you're surprised when other areas don't have this.

6. You see weather forecasts for four different climate zones in the same county and aren't remotely surprised.
7. You remember going to "The Cross" on Mt. Helix for Easter services. 60 degrees is COLD!
8. You've tailgated at Qualcomm Stadium, and for bonus points, also tailgated when it was Jack Murphy Stadium.
9. You know that "charge!" doesn't refer to a credit card.
10. You remember going downtown via Federal Blvd. before Hwy 94 was built.

11. You remember when Hwy 94 was 2 lanes in each direction.
12. You still call it the Del Mar Fair.
13. You say "I'm going to the track" and people know what you're talking about.
14. You remember when Lemon Grove, La Mesa, and Spring Valley were "in the sticks."
15. You understand what May-gray and June-gloom means.

16. There's a North County, South County, and an East County but no Central County.
17. You know what "the merge" is and will plan your entire day around not being on it during rush hour.
18. You know the difference between Clairemont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, and Mira Mesa.
19. You've gone to Sea World on a warm day and sat in the first few rows at the Shamu Show to get cooled off.
20. You've been delayed at the Border Checkpoints on the 5, the 8 and the 15.
(*Bonus* You say "the" before freeway names)

21. Your house doesn't have or need air conditioning unless you live in the East County.
22. No matter what the weather is, there is always someone walking around in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops.
23. You've been to the desert, the mountains, and the beach all in one day.
24. You know that Ramona, Santee and Lakeside are where the "cowboys" live.
25. You hate tourists and their bad driving. (But you don't know how to drive in the rain.)

26. You've gone to the Zoo just to hang out.
27. You have family or friends that have moved to Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utah or Colorado.
28. You know what the "Santa Anas" are and that they have nothing to do with the city of Santa Ana.
29. You know what "real Mexican food" tastes like.
30. You remember when "Mission Valley" was cow pastures (Oh . . to have bought land then!)

31. You remember when Lemon Grove had "the cows."
32. You know that you have to leave at the crack of dawn to find parking at the beach, or risk parking in front of someone's million dollar bungalow and waking a mile or more.
33. You still call it "The Wild Animal Park"
34. You've watched fireworks over the bay while enjoying a bonfire.
35. You dated, are related, or are married to a Marine or Navy guy/gal.

36. You avoid the Gaslamp Quarter during ComicCon.
37. Fish tacos are a weekly requirement.
38. If you've moved away, and you miss it everyday.

Have a beautiful, sunny San Diego Day!

Christmas Eve in San Diego

Check out this great song about Christmas Eve in San Diego --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQfpD3Mocs0

You are a Californian if ...

So as not to be outdone by all the redneck, hillbilly, and Texan stories, somebody had to come up with this, to know you're from California.

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember .. . is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

8. You can't remember .. . . is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can move you to tears.

10. Gas costs a $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember .. . .is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.

16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18. Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.

19. The Terminator is your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

You Know your are from San diego IF...

1. You can correctly pronounce Tierrasanta, La Jolla, Rancho Penesquitos, San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Jamul, and El Cajon, and know where they are.

2. There are four distinct seasons: Summer, Not Quite Summer, Almost Summer, and oh, Hey look it's summer again.

3. Your high school had a surf team.

4. Chula-juana is a real town, as well as San Yskidrow, Spun Alley, and Nasty City.

5. Your house is worth more than some small countries.

6. You know what MB, OB, and PB st and for.

7. Every street name is either in Spanish or Spanish related, and you're surprised when other areas don't have this.

8. You can determine the accuracy of someone's "I'm ghetto" claim by knowing their high school. for example: El Camino H.S., or Crawford H.S.

9. You see weather forecasts for four different climate zones in the same county, and aren't remotely surprised.

10. You've gone to Mt. Helix in July and know you still need a jacket.

11. You remember going to "The Cross" on Mt. Helix for Easter services. 60 degrees is COLD!

12. You've tailgated at Qualcomm Stadium, and for bonus points, also tailgated when it was Jack Murphy Stadium, and San diego Stadium.

13. You know that "Charge!" doesn't refer to a credit card.

14. You remember going downtown via Federal Blvd. before Hwy. 94 was built.

15. You remember when Hwy. 94 was 2 lanes in each direction.

16. You've been on a field trip to see an Imax movie at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center.

17. You still call it the Del Mar Fair.

18. You say "I'm going to the track" and people know what your talking about.

19. You say "I'm going to the park" and people know what you mean.

20. You remember when 'Lemon Grove', 'La Mesa', and 'Spring Valley' were "in the sticks"

21. You understand what May-gray and June-gloom means .

22. A famous skateboarder/surfer lives in your town,

23. There's a North County, South County, and an East County but no Central County.

24. You know what it means when a girl in a short skirt is walking on El Cajon Blvd.

25. You've gotten stuck in the Horton Plaza parking structure traffic after a Padres game.

26. You know what "the merge" is, and will plan your entire day around not being on it during rush hour.

27. You know the difference between Clairmont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, and Mira Mesa.

28. You've stayed home from school or work, because "It's Raining!".

29. You've gone to Sea World on a warm day and sat in the first few rows at the Shamu show to get cooled off.

30. You've been delayed at the Border Checkpoints on the 5, the 8 and the 15. (Where's the one on 8?)

31. Your house doesn't have or need air conditioning unless you live in the East County.

32. No matter what the weather is, there is always someone walking around in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops.

33. You've been to the desert, the mountains, and the beach all in one day.

34. You know that Santee, and Lakeside is where the 'cowboys' live.

35. You know why Hillcrest is known as 'the swish alps'.

36. You hate tourists and their bad driving. (But you don't know how to drive in the rain.)

37. You've gone to the Zoo just to hang out.

38. You have family or friends that have moved to Arizona, Nevada, Utah or Colorado.

39. You know someone who doesn't own pants.

40. You know what the 'Santa Anas' are, and that they have nothing to do with the city of Santa Ana.

41. You know what 'real Mexican food' tastes like.

42. You remember when 'Mission Valley' was cow pastures (Oh...to have bought land then!) and the cows went thru a tunnel under Highway 8.

43. You remember when Lemon Grove had "the cows" at Millers Ranch & you could get milk at their drive-thru.

44. You remember riding the ferry as a passenger for .25 cents for as many trips back & forth as you wanted, all night long.

45. You remember where the National City Airport was and what kind of landing surface it had.

46. You remember where the Naval Amphibious Airport was and remember seeing large Naval Seaplanes practice landing and taking off there.

47. You remember the dredge in Mission Bay that created Fiesta Island.

48. You know exactly where the PSA jet crashed.

49. You went to a ball game at Westgate Park.

50. You know what the Sea Dart was, where it was built and where it was flown.

51. You know what park the Albino Deer lived in and how it died.

52. You knew what street bus #7 operated on.

53. You knew where "Costa Bells St." was in Lemon Grove and what famous feed store was on it.

54. You skated at "Palisade Gardens" and ate at the indoor-outdoor snack bar.

55. You took the "Quince St." offramp from 395 North in Balboa Park.

56. You know what hotel had the glass elevator on its outside.

57. You watched them repair fishing nets at the foot of Grape St.

58. You remember the Ivy growing on the walls at San Diego HS.

59. You watched the jalopies race on the dirt track and later years you watched Y.A. Tittle, as the Chargers QB, at Balboa Stadium.

60. You got a parking ticket from a San Diego Policeman driving a Harley Davidson Servi-Car, which had the box w/ 2 wheels in the back.

61. You watched races at "Hour Glass Field" and know exactly what has been built at that location now.

62. You've seen with your own eyes the Little League Baseball fields in Mission Valley flooded.

63. You know what building "The Brass Rail" was in at downtown San Diego before it was moved to Hillcrest.

64. You watched Bob Dale get pissed on by the monkey during his San Diego Zoorama program on KFMB Channel 8.

65. You know what large reservoir has an island in the middle of it.

66. You know what Jerry Coleman's job was in WWII.

67. You saw the five "skywriters" planes flying in a row writing their messages over San Diego skies.

68. You watched them unload the elephants off of the train and walk them to the Sports Arena for the circus.

69. You ate a hamburger and fries with your high school friends at the A&W drive-in on El Cajon Boulvard.

70. You remember the parades that are no more: Fiesta De La Luna in Chula Vista; Mayday Parade in National City.

Have a beautiful, sunny San Diego Day!!!!

Potential 7.8 Southern California Earthquake

The following was posted on Science Daily today:

ScienceDaily (May 23, 2008) — Scientists have unveiled a hypothetical Scenario describing how a magnitude 7.8 Southern California earthquake -similar to the recent earthquake in China- would impact the region, causing loss of lives and massive damage to infrastructure, including critical transportation, power, and water systems.

In the Scenario, the earthquake would kill 1800 people, injure 50,000, cause $200 billion in damage, and have long-lasting social and economic consequences. This is the most comprehensive analysis ever of what a major Southern California earthquake would mean, and is the scientific framework for what will be the largest earthquake preparedness drill in California history, scheduled for November 13, 2008.

The November preparedness exercise, "Golden Guardian '08," will test the ability of emergency responders to deal with the impact of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas Fault in Southern California, and is being jointly organized by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the California Office of Homeland Security. The Golden Guardian exercise will occur during a week-long series of public events planned for the "Great Southern California ShakeOut." A June 4th kick-off event is planned for the "ShakeOut" to help communities plan to respond to the risks highlighted in the Scenario.

The scientific report describing the ShakeOut Scenario, jointly published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Geological Survey (CGS), will be released May 21 during a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. The House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, led by Chairman Jim Costa (D-CA), will hold an oversight hearing on USGS efforts to prepare for future earthquakes.

Although imaginary, the Shakeout Scenario is based on scientists' best predictions of what would actually occur during and after a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault.

The Scenario outlines a hypothetical earthquake in which:

* The strongest shaking and greatest damage is near the stretch of the San Andreas Fault that extends through the fastest growing areas of Southern California, including the Coachella Valley, Inland Empire and Antelope Valley.
At least 10 million people will be exposed to heavy shaking. California's efforts at mitigation have concentrated on life safety and have been largely successful. Thus, in spite of the large numbers of people in highly shaken areas, deaths are estimated at only 1,800.

* Building types known to be vulnerable to damage and collapse, do indeed sustain major damage. All un-reinforced masonry buildings within 15 miles of the San Andreas Fault are completely destroyed. Those that are not retrofitted kill many occupants. Many other older building types without retrofitting contribute to over $33 billion in damage to buildings.

* The fault offsets all lifelines crossing into Southern California at Cajon Pass (Interstate 15), San Gorgonio Pass (Interstate 10) and along Route 14, including pipelines, power lines, roads, railways, telecommunications and aqueducts.
Strong shaking continues in downtown Los Angeles for 55 seconds - nearly 8 times longer than in the Northridge Earthquake

* The prolonged, strong shaking heavily damages and sometimes collapses hundreds of old brick buildings, thousands of older commercial and industrial concrete buildings, many wood-frame buildings, and even a few, high-rise steel buildings. Over 600,000 buildings suffer at least some damage that causes tens of thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths, and leaves many thousands of people without homes or jobs.

* Fire doubles the fatalities and economic losses. Around Southern California, there will be 1,600 fires started large enough to warrant a 911 call, and some fires merge into conflagrations that burn hundreds of city blocks. Assuming no Santa Ana winds, the models still indicate a further $65 billion in direct losses and $22 billion in indirect losses from the fires.

* Nearly two thirds of the hospital beds are non-functional in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. At the same time, 50,000 people will seek treatment at emergency rooms.

* Thanks to a $6 billion investment in seismic safety, the State highway system fares well. However, although collapse is avoided, some bridges are non-functional so that much of the highway is not passable on the day of the event. The long duration of shaking takes a greater toll on bridges and overpasses under the jurisdiction of cities and counties where the retrofitting processes are not complete or have not begun.

* The largest long-term economic disruption comes from damage to the water distribution system. Damage to this system will be so extensive that some areas will have to replace the whole system, and some buildings will be without water for as long as 6 months. The direct and indirect business interruption costs attributed to the lack of water will be $50 billion.

Most of the damage is predictable and much is preventable. Individuals can protect themselves and help their community by:

* Storing more water than they already have
* Keeping a fire extinguisher and knowing how to use it.
* Securing their space. This means securing building contents from flying around and reinforcing a building they own to the most current standards.

"The planned emergency drill is underpinned by the most comprehensive analysis ever of what a major Southern California earthquake would mean on the ground," said Dr. Lucile Jones, chief scientist for U.S. Geological Survey's Southern California Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project. "We know this science will help state and local agencies develop comprehensive emergency-response plans that will help us avoid the worst impacts of a major quake."

The ShakeOut Scenario is the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration of over 300 scientists, engineers, and other experts from several agencies, including the USGS, the California Geological Survey, Southern California Earthquake Center, California Office of Emergency Services and Seismic Safety Commission.

To create the Scenario, geologists determined the amount of potential motion on the part of the San Andreas Fault with the greatest risk of imminent rupture, a 200-mile long section from the Salton Sea in the Coachella Valley to just south of Gorman. From this, seismologists and computer scientists modeled the ground shaking. Engineers and building professionals used the models of ground shaking to estimate damage to the built environment. And from these damages, social scientists evaluated emergency response, casualties, and the impact on our economy and society.

A copy of the full technical report, The ShakeOut Scenario, is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1150.

A final San Diego Fires post

As I noted on Wednesday, the weather turned cooler with winds from the west that stifled the westward progress of the fires in San Diego County. However, now the fires are burning on their eastern edges, mainly in National Forests. We had haze yesterday (from the smoke blown offshore coming back onshore) and this morning we had a thick fog. The fires are not all out, but they are being contained.

The number of people in the evacuation centers is dwindling, and people are returning to many areas, including Ramona (the first ones to evacuate on Sunday) but they can't use the water in Ramona yet. Now the stories about "what happened to me" are in the newspapers and on the radio and TV.

The TV news had constant video of homes burning and people walking in the rubble. They rarely showed maps or discussed where fires were burning. Usually, it was announcements of evacuations, discussion of resources, interviews with politicians, or news conferences. The radio news stations (KOGO-600 AM, KFMB-760 AM) had call-in programs 24 hours a day with reports from residents in fire areas, and was more useful but not comprehensive. The newspapers had excellent maps and summaries, but they were a day later. The web had some blogs with pictures and reports, KOGO had a chat room with many comments, and the news outlets had web sites with reports, maps and pictures.

The Reverse 911 phone system worked extremely well, and the evacuation centers worked well. Getting air and ground resources to San Diego was delayed by the distances involved, the other fires that started earlier, and by some bureaucratic red tape. In one case, the US Navy helicopters in San Diego weren't permitted to fight the fires because there weren't enough CalFire observers to ride along on them. They finally got airborne on Wednesday with Navy fire spotters and one CalFire observer for every 3 or 4 helicopters. They've gotta fix that.

You can see up-to-date posts from the San Diego Union-Tribune blog at http://sosdfireblog.blogspot.com/ . There was one today about how good things sometimes happen to good people - read this particular post. The highlight for me was:

"Kate Leidiger's first week on the job certainly as been more eventful than expected. The 20-year-old Del Cerro resident was a brand new EMT with Rural Metro when the fires broke out.

"Monday, her first day on the job, she worked the frontline for more than 30 hours.

"But the grueling job isn't without a few perks. Within the first 18 hours of her shift, she had the chance to shake hands with Gov. Schwarzenegger. The next day, she met Pres. Bush, who tucked her under his arm in an embrace."

Talk about a serious change in someone's life, and a fantastic experience for a young lady just trying to work her job and do good. She really made "family history" this week, didn't she? She will always remember it, and will probably have the pictures to prove it.

San Diego Fires - Day 4

The situation for my family has not changed - we are safe, slept well, we taking sustenance, minimizing our electric and water use, watching TV and listening to radio, trying to stay off the roads, and trying to entertain granddaughter Lolo. It is hazy with blue sky above, the sun is shining fairly brightly (the past few days have seen no blue sky and an orange ball in the sky obscured by the haze and ashfall) and there is no ashfall right here right now. The closest the fires got to us were about 8 miles east in the Eastlake area of Chula Vista.

The TV here has been "all fire, all the time" so we have had no national TV news or regular shows on the local stations. I watched Fox News Channel last night for a bit and the anchor confidently said "Chula Vista has been evacuated." Wrong-o! About 1% of Chula Vista residents were evacuated. I've heard that NBC and CBS have news anchors here - I hope they got it right. The local TV folks don't get it right sometimes either - I saw one report last night that said the winds were out of the northeast so the fires were burning in the northwest direction. Neither the anchors or the reporter could figure it out.

The fire situation in the county has changed. The Sign On San Diego Wildfires 2007 blog has the latest announcements, and is my best source for news. The major fires and their status as of 7 AM are now:

** Witch Fire: About 196,420 acres in northern San Diego County from Witch Creek east of Ramona to Rancho Santa Fe. It has burned up into Valley Center and down around El Capitan Reservoir. One percent contained; 500 homes, 100 businesses and 50 outbuildings destroyed; 375 other structures damaged, including 250 homes and 75 businesses. Two civilians and 12 firefighters injured.

** Harris Fire: About 72,000 acres - started 70 miles southeast of San Diego north of the border town of Tecate, and ranged west and northwest to Jamul, over Mount San Miguel to the southeastern edge of Sweetwater Lake and the northeastern edge of Chula Vista. 10 percent contained; 200 homes destroyed; 2,000 homes and 500 commercial properties threatened. One civilian killed, 21 civilians and five firefighters injured.

** Rice Fire: At least 7,500 acres in Fallbrook in northern San Diego County. 10 percent containment; 206 homes and 2 commercial properties destroyed. One firefighter injured.

** Poomacha Fire: 20,000 acres on the La Jolla Indian Reservation and in northeastern San Diego County. This fire is straddling State 76 east of I-15, and is climbing up Palomar Mountain, which has lush vegetation since it hasn't burned for many years. No containment; 50 homes destroyed and 2,000 homes threatened. Ten firefighters injured.

** Camp Pendleton Fire: 6,000 acres on the Marine base north of San Diego. 10 percent contained. This fire has closed I-5 through the base, and caused the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant.

** McCoy Fire started on the west side of Cuyamaca Mountain, and burned eastward yesterday, and the mountain town of Julian was evacuated, but the fire did not get into the town.

The Santa Ana winds have reduced strength and may be over by this afternoon. The problem with that is there will likely be light winds off the ocean from the west and the eastern fronts of each fire may burn eastward into areas not previously burned. This is especially true for Fairbanks Ranch east of Rancho Santa Fe, and for Jamul east of Mount San Miguel.

To put it all in some kind of perspective: About 500,000 people were evacuated out of danger. The evacuation zones are larger than the burn areas. That's about 1 person in every 6 in the County. About 50,000 of them are in shelters somewhere, the rest are with family, friends, a campground or a hotel. About 1,300 homes have been lost so far, that's less than 1% of the homes in the affected areas. Some neighborhoods, especially in Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Dios, Poway and along State 94 were hard hit - in some case, whole streets and blocks were lost. Almost all of the homes burned are on streets facing canyons or forest.

Thank you for all of the emails inquiring about our health and safety. We still have Lolo who came down on Saturday for a two night visit with her friend - we'll probably take her home on Thursday if I-15 is open.

Fire - Day 3

The situation for my family has not changed - it's smoky outside, there is lots of ash on the ground, we are staying inside, and there is no threat to our safety right now.

It was a rough night for folks in Spring Valley and eastern Bonita - the fire came over Mount San Miguel as I figured it would, and is threatening homes on the northern and western slopes of the mountain.

There is now a voluntary evacuation for the Otay River valley and the Otay Mesa area - south of Main Street and east of I-805. I'm trying to figure out why - did the fire split and go south of Otay Lakes? Or is the fire that burned into Mexico out near Tecate burning around the south side of Otay Mountain and threatening the US side of the border? I've heard nothing about any fires in Mexico, although I fear that there are several there.

Watching the TV for endless hours of fire news, and the constant replays of houses going up in flames, is very depressing. The TV stations don't really know much - they broadcast many items with errors in them. The radio is a little better. I've found a blog at http://sosdfireblog.blogspot.com/ that provides official information. There is still no one spot that tells us where the fires are advancing and burning. Susan Kitchens has a post here that shows a satellite photo of the Southern California fires - from yesterday. She is in the San Gabriel Valley east of LA, and may have fire problems too.

I've spent the morning watching the Disney Channel with Lolo and working on puzzles, playing with blocks, sharing breakfast, tickling and cuddling, and chasing her around the house. It's been a fun morning, although I've gotten nothing else done besides this blog post while Lolo is entertaining her grandma.

UPDATED 11 AM: The mayor of Chula Vista was on the radio a while ago and said that the fire east of Otay Lakes had split and a finger was moving southwest around the the south end of Otay Lakes. That would explain why the are south of Main had an evacuation order.Someone else out in Rancho San Diego (where my brother lives just off Hillsdale) said on the radio that the wind had shifted there and was starting to come out of the west. This should have the effect of stopping westward movement of the fingers of fire, but then it may force the fingers of fire north and south, or east.

The large National Guard airplanes - 6 of them - are on their way to California. They hope that there will be some working in San Diego County. Right now, Chula Vista police and fire are working the Harris firefighting - there are apparently no CalFire help on this end of the fire.

Up in the Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar area, the fire is slowly progressing westward, and the report is that the winds have picked up again.

UPDATED 3:30 PM: Nothing much has changed here in Chula Vista. Some residents of Poway and Scripps Ranch are going back to their homes. The evacuation order for Rancho San Diego was cancelled. Apparently, the water drops by military helicopters has worked well there. There are evacuation orders for parts of Jamul, parts of Julian, parts of Valley Center, parts of Encinitas and parts of Carlsbad.

There are fingers of fire on the north and west sides of Lake Hodges. There is a new, big fire on Palomar Mountain called the Poomacha Fire. The wind has shifted to the east in the Cuyamaca mountains, and the Eagle Fire is threatening Julian.

The latest statistics I've heard are about 1,200 homes lost, only 1 death, and over 250,000 acres burned. The Harris fire near Chula Vista has burned about 70,000 acres.

FIRE in the air! -- post 2

UPDATED 9 PM: The Harris fire has continued to advance westward toward Chula Vista. It has not reached Otay Lakes yet (they form a natural barrier to much of eastern Chula Vista, called Eastlake) but it may during the night or tomorrow morning. There is a mandatory evacuation for the northeastern part of Eastlake - the area on the southern slope of Mount San Miguel. There is a voluntary evacuation call for some of the Eastlake area. The latter is about 6 miles east of us. The winds where I am (just west of I-805 off East Naples) were pretty low all day, but they have been higher out in the back country.

The news media tries so hard, but they don't do live TV well with place names and they don't have a lot of good information. The radio is better with phone callers saying where there is fire or evacuations.

Our 2-year old granddaughter came down with family friends from Victorville on Saturday night, and our daughter was supposed to come get her and take her home today. She couldn't come due to the closure of I-15. The friends evacuated from Eastlake to Lemon Grove, so we have our precious Lolo for probably two nights. She had a rough time going to sleep tonight. We hope there is enough good air to go have fun with her on Tuesday.

The weather report is that the winds will pick up again on Tuesday morning, and die down quite a bit by Tuesday night. I can see the Harris fire going up the southeast side of Mount San Miguel and over it into Spring Valley. It's already advancing on Jamul, which is to the east of the mountain.

If the wind shifts from westerly to southwesterly (which it might), the fire could advance into Eastlake and the city of Chula Vista (which is about 12 miles wide east-west and about 5 miles long (north-south) with 250,000 residents. There aren't too many evacuation centers left now - my thought is that we go rent a room in Coronado and have fun on the beach.

Historically the 1971 fire burned over Mount Miguel and advanced into what is now eastern Chula Vista (which wasn't there in 1971), and the 2003 fire burned right up to Otay Lakes but not up and over San Miguel. There is not the high acreage for this fire (in 2003, there were 245,000 acres burned - about 400 square miles) the total in the county is something like 170,000 acres. The reports say that 600 homes and 1 life have been lost so far in the county, which has 13 separate fires burning, nowhere near the 2003 fire numbers -- 2,000 homes, 15 lives -- at least yet. They may find some people in cars along Highway 94 near where the fire started, or some illegals that crossed the border, but nobody's looking yet - they're too busy fighting the winds and the fires.

The evacuations have gone fairly well - many people find shelter with friends and family, but the community shelters are full and up to speed, I heard there were 10,000 at Qualcomm Stadium.

It may be a long night for some people near the fire lines. A blog with frequent posts is at http://sosdfireblog.blogspot.com/.

FIRE in the air - Post 1

Mother Nature is usually absolutely beautiful. Sometimes she is an absolute horror. It's not all nature's fault - homo sapiens sometimes helps things along.

Tornado. Hurricane. Flood. Earthquake. Storm. Fire. Those have happened since time immemorial - swaths of land are devastated. Homo sapiens have marvelled at, almost worshiped, them from afar. In the middle of them, homo sapiens are helpless.

In San Diego, our two biggest threats are fire and earthquake. In the coastal cities we are about 100 miles away from the San Andreas Fault. The effect of a major earthquake here would be power, water and food shortages due to a big quake somewhere else - like Los Angeles or the Imperial Valley. Fire poses the bigger local threat, especially when there is a high pressure system over the Great Basin - we get Santa Ana winds, usually from the northeast and east, that can gust up to 80 miles per hour. Once a fire starts, the winds carry it quickly, and it often leaps over highways and whole blocks.

San Diego County, and other areas of California, are under siege again from Santa Ana winds and fires (started by people, lightning or downed wires). In the San Diego area, there are several large fires burning westward and southwestward from their origin.Ramona, with 35,000 people, was evacuated last night. Overnight, the Witch Creek Fire branch north of Ramona rode the winds westward about ten miles right into the heart of suburban San Diego. Whole areas (tens of square miles) are under evacuation orders. This fire is essentially in the San Dieguito River watershed area which stretches from the mountains to the ocean. This river passes south of Escondido skirting Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos, then through posh Fairbanks Ranch and posh Rancho Santa Fe to posh Del Mar. It has crossed and shut down I-15 south of Escondido as it burned into the Rancho Bernardo area.

There is another branch of the Witch Creek Fire south of Ramona that is burning in the San Diego river watershed - much of which burned in the Cedar fire in 2003. That may threaten Barona Ranch, Lakeside, Santee and points west. In 2003, the Cedar fire burned across I-15 all the way to I-805 near UCSD in La Jolla.

In southern San Diego County - 30 miles south of the Ramona area fire, the Harris fire started in Potrero, just a mile north of the US-Mexico border near the BC city of Tecate. This fire will likely burn into Mexico along the Tijuana River watershed. It may go up or around Otay Mountain. If it burns around the north side of Otay Mountain, then it may threaten Chula Vista as it burns into the Otay River watershed area east of the city.

There are several more fires in the northern part of San Diego county that have flared up this morning. We thought 2003 was bad - this may end up worse.

Homo sapiens, in their infinite wisdom, has settled in river valleys, on plains and on mountain tops. They build houses all right in a row, sometimes right on top of each other. They love green belts in this quasi-desert area - whole corridors of river bottom and canyons have been made into parks and greenbelts. These parks have tremendous fuel for fires - trees, brush, etc. They become "fire daggers" right into and through the heart of settled areas.

The settled areas are not out of danger. Houses are made of wood and stucco here, with shrubs and trees for beauty. Once started, they burn well due to the construction materials and the contents. Fortunately, most people have replaced their wood shake roofs and treated their eaves. But once a house starts to burn, it burns unless water is on it very quickly. The reality is that a house that starts to burn will burn down, and may take neighbor houses with it.

The fire services are not able to stop the fires from advancing. There are not enough firefighters, not enough engines, not enough water to stop them. The helicopters and fire-fighting aircraft were all sent north over the weekend to fight the Malibu and other fires. Even if they were here, they likely couldn't fly because of the winds and the low visibility. They can only notify people to evacuate and try to control the traffic.

The weather will eventually stop it, with moist air and cooler winds from the west turning the fire back on itself. That may happen on Wednesday or Thursday. All that people can do is save themselves by evacuating away from where the fire is or will be. There are evacuation centers at high schools, and schools are closed.

Right now at 6:30 AM, we are in the middle of the city of Chula Vista, and are not under a fire threat or evacuation order. Who knows what the day will bring? In 2003, the fires were to the north of us and to the south of us, although they burned up to the eastern edge of Chula Vista before the weather turned.

Last month, we had our brush and low tree branches on our hillside cut down, which is the south side of a small canyon with a two-block long greenbelt on our side. There are no bushes or anything near our house, which is at the west end of a cul-de-sac. The winds are from the east - and any fire will burn to the west. The neighbors to the east have lush brush on the hillside. If houses just to our east burn, then we may be in danger.

What should I take in an evacuation? Family papers. Pictures in frames and albums. Laptop. Portable electronics. Batteries. Books to read. We can fill two cars with stuff.

There may be power outages today, so I don't know how long I'll be at the computer today. Our granddaughter is at friends in Chula Vista, and our daughter is 150 miles away. She was going to come down and take Lolo home, but the freeway is closed at Escondido. We may end up with Lolo for the week, which could be fun.

All of a sudden, genealogy is going to take a back seat to survival.

UPDATED 8 AM: Added some detail after reading it. I copied my critical genealogy data from my desktop computer to my flash drive so that I can update my laptop sometime. We've been watching the TV reports on all the local channels. I'll probably go to the library for awhile today. I'll probably stop and get a full tank of gas on the way.

UPDATED 1 PM: There is smoke smell everywhere, and some ashfall. The fires are not in "rich fuel" areas - forests with a lot of wood fuel to burn -- so there is not a lot of ashfall now, and probably won't be. They are evacuating areas about 10 miles east of me and an area south of me. There is little info on the radio or TV for my area - most of the news is about the North County where hundreds of homes have been lost already. In San Diego County, about 300,000 people have been evacuated.