California Fires

So I'm in the phone business and yesterday (Friday July 11) I was working on turning up a PRI (look it up if you are interested)trunk for a property in Denver near the airport. The supplier of the service was AT&T and there are processes that have to be gone through to turn up the service. There was someone on site, I was into the phone system via the internet (pretty cool - no more dial up modems) and the tech from AT&T was in Sacramento, CA.

All three of us are conferenced together and while we are all waiting for the circuit to come up the guy on site in Denver asks the AT&T tech in California what is going on with the fires - a couple of the big ones are near Sacramento. Well she launches into a tirade about all the "tree huggers". Now she didn't use any invectives, but you could tell she was having a hard time controlling the urge to do so. We stared talking about how some of the greatest property and life loss from fires in California could be directly linked to the "environmentalists" blocking controlled burns and underbrush clearing for totally idiotic reasons.

The majority of property loss in Lake Tahoe last year was caused by the local government enjoining the residents from clearing pine straw from underneath the trees on their property. And why was this done one asks. Let me enlighten you - it was because in the absence of the pine needles on the ground rain could cause runoff of dirt into the lake causing it to look "murky" until it settled to the bottom. In other words it would be "yucky" to look at for a day or two after it rained.

A few years ago fires in Riverside County, California got out of control. Environmentalists managed to stop the forestry service from clearing proactive fire breaks because a species of Kangaroo rat would not cross open ground over 6 feet or so and it was thought this might endanger their procreation. (Hey don't expect to see this reported in the mainstream media). So fire breaks out - no fire breaks - fire rages for a few weeks. Did anybody stop to think that if fire DID break out it would fry the little critters anyway? Rat Kabobs anyone?

Well, the list goes on and on. And lest anyone think the woman was just another angry conservative like me who cannot understand (just on the face of it) the idiotic reasoning which can have such devastating consequences it turns out the AT&T tech had been a California firefighter for nine years. Putting her life on the line (and watching her friends do the same thing) because any kind of preventative measures were nixed by the "tree huggers" (her words not mine). It's like asking a trapeze artist to work without a net - then tell them they have to have their arms tied behind their back and after executing the death-defying triple somersault - catch the other bar with their teeth.

I guess she'd just had enough. I don't blame her. Putting out fires in the phone business is a lot less difficult and a little less frustrating.

And don't forget every time some huge fire rages out of control - one that could have been prevented - and destroys untold millions of dollars worth of property it raises the insurance rates for every homeowner in the country. Down here in Florida (and other places along the gulf coast) we pay a "hurricane recoupment fee" for the storm payouts of three and four years ago - as well as paying increased premiums. That's okay. We live here so we should pay for it. But I'd bet the California people don't pay a "forest fire or mudslide recoupment fee" and if the insurance companies tried to collect it I'd bet the state of California would block it. Hell let the rest of the US pay for it. So while you are paying your higher property insurance bill in Iowa, Nebraska, or Colorado just feel content in the fact that, after rebuilding their two million dollar homes on the shores of Lake Tahoe with their insurance payoff, those folks will be able to sit on their deck (with more square footage than your whole house) and sip a cocktail or glass of champagne while looking at the crystal clear lake - even just after it rains.

Tony Snow

When I woke up this morning I turned on the news and heard Tony Snow had passed away - finally succumbing to the cancer he had been fighting since 2005. Oddly enough I had been thinking about him not too many days ago - since I had not heard anything about him for a while.

I liked Tony Snow. He seemed like a good guy, and Lord knows there are too few "good guys" in the political arena anymore. I don't think I really knew who he was until he showed up on the fledgling Fox News Network back in 1996, but I was won over immediately. He always seemed to have at least a hint of a smile on his face or in his eyes, and it was never one of those sardonic or sarcastic smiles. You could tell that he was actually enjoying himself and the people he was interviewing or chatting with. He never conveyed the sense that he thought himself better or more intelligent than anyone else, yet he always conveyed that he was willing to listen to any viewpoint and give it fair consideration. How rare is that in the media in this day and age?

I think I had heard somewhere (though didn't really remember) that he was an accomplished musician and played in a rock band with some friends from time to time. On the news this morning they had some footage of him also doing a "dueling flutes" thing with what appeared to be a jazz band - and truly enjoying himself. It made sense - most people who play music for enjoyment and not employment seem to be a happy bunch for the most part. He was certainly a Renaissance Man and there aren't many of them left - one fewer now.

I know from listening to him on the radio that he had a deep and abiding love for his family - they came first. Too bad more people in all walks of life don't feel that way these days. If they did the world would be a better place.

Anyway, the world is richer for him having been in it and I will pay him the best compliment I can pay any man or woman. He seemed like the kind of person you would like to sit down with for an hour or two, have a beer (or adult beverage of your choice)and talk about anything at all. Not just because it would be good to hear what he had to say, but because he would be interested in what YOU had to say.