If you check out the Comments section in my post of yesterday (10/25) you'll find a link sent by Blue Gazelle to photos of the Riverside County fire. The local paper had some also, along with a map of the affected area, but the pictures at the link pretty much tell the tale.

The smell of smoke is even stronger today, Michael says he can even smell it up in Laguena Niguel. Besides the four dead firefighters a 'civilian' has also been killed, making the arsonist into a killer as well. The FBI, along with state & local police are investigating the situation with a $100, 000 reward being offered for the capture and conviction of this low-life (or perhaps more than one).

Maybe I've been listening to my old friend S.H.Otis too much lately, but I said to Donna that I think they should turn the arsonist over to the firefighters BEFORE placing her/him under arrest.

Speaking of S.H., he's really pushing a NO on Prop 86.

In case any of you were wondering, the Twin Pines fires in SoCal are more than fifty miles northeast of us here in Ladera Ranch. Still the sky is murky and you can smell smoke if you go outside. Apparently, according to the Dallas Raines (the weatherman on Channel 7) wind conditions are blowing the smoke this way towards the ocean. Sadly, four firemen have already lost their lives the first day of this fire, which is the result of arson.

Although I was familiar with the Santa Anna winds, I had never heard of the 'red flag warnings' which go along with it. It's been very dry of late and the winds can easily spread any sparks, whipping them into something dangerous.

On the job front, I've heard bad news from one job and am waiting to hear about at least three others. I have one interview with a public library scheduled for next Monday and another the following week. Between the two I hope to be hearing from two different colleges, plus I'm doing another stint at Southern California Institute of Technology next week.

Oh, and remember that we've NEVER been about "Stay the Course" no matter what you may have heard!

Just quickly checking in to let you folks now how things are going. Sadly, not much has changed since last time. Neither of us has a full-time job yet, but we both have done interviews and are waiting to hear back. We're also both sending out resumes via e-mail and fax to just about any place which might be interested.

I went to a Job Fair in Irvine yesterday which was pretty much of a waste of time, plus it cost me six bucks to park my car after being told it was free. Won't be going to a job fair held by these particular folks again!

The only quick political note I have is that I am totally confused by the various ballot initiatives out here. Hard to get all the Propositions & Measures straight, let alone sifting through all the pros & cons. I think I'm voting YES on 86 and NO on 87, but that might only be until the next round of ads. If I have it right I'm voting for Big Tobacco on one and against Big Oil on the other. I know I'm agreeing with Bill Clinton and Al Gore, so whatever side they are on that's who'll get my vote. I'm kind of a Democratic whore on that, I guess.

I'm really not sure what to think about extending Measure M, so if you can help me out on that I'd appreciate it. It is supposed to continue the taxes which are used to improve the highways out here, of which I'm becoming a real fan. Wider and faster!!!

By the way, Seismo says we should have a "preparation party" to ensure we're ready for earthquakes. Hard to argue with a dog dressed like an Australian soldier (or whatever he is supposed to be).

That's if for now, mates!

Began working a part-time job yesterday at a vocational college in Anaheim. They needed someone on staff with an MLS and I was lucky enough to have posted my resume with an agency only a day or so before.

Had an interview in Newport Beach today and also got a call from Ontario for a follow-up to my initial one last week. Tomorrow we'll see how I do with a telephone interview with a local college. Things do seem to be looking up.

Donna and I had a nice meal with Michael, Kristina and Marisa last evening in Newport Beach. (That's the two of them on a recent cruise to Mexico.) Went to the Melting Pot to celebrate Kristina's b-day with fondue. I can't recall the last time I had fondue, but remember my first wife, Betsy, loved it so we used to go to a place in Boulder when we lived there.

It's been years since I've subscribed to a newspaper, or even picked one up on a daily basis (not counting the freebies like AM New York). Working at the library I had access to the four major NYC papers plus lots of local & weekly ones as well. We have been buying the Sunday OC Register since moving out here to check out the Classifieds for jobs, so when the paper offered a special discount if you got the Saturday & Sunday papers delivered so we decided to take advantage.

I have to admit that I generally only skim the editorials and Op/Ed stuff, since I'm about 180 degrees politically from were the paper stands on most issues. Out here the NY Times would look like the Village Voice. It is good to keep up on the local and statewide events going down and also to read some articles on national & international stories which tend to be missed by the television news shows.

I'm finding it very interesting to try and get a grasp on the measures & propositions coming up for votes next month, there appear to be a dozen or so. Naturally, the ones getting the most air time have to do with Props 86 & 87, which deal with a higher tobacco tax and pushes for alternative energy vs Big Oil, respectively. the OC Register has let me know about some other things, such as Prop 89 on campaign reform and Prop 90 which deals with Eminent Domain. You would think you could guess how I'm siding on all these, but you might be surprised.

Oh, before I forget!

The Sunday OC Register has a great column that I never would have seen in New York. Called "Seismo-Watch" it looks at the seismic activity of the preceeding week. There's a map showing all the 'events' and a 'local activity' scoreboard. I really get a kick out of the column's mascot, which is a dog in a ranger outfit called (ready for it?), Seismo. This week Seismo says: "Shake the earthquake blues and be prepared!" Apparently, we're going through a lull right now with only minor events, but writer/geologist Charles P. Watson reminds us that the last time a similar lull occured it ended with the Northridge Quake of '94. Cool, huh?

Back to the election...

I wasn't familiar at all with Phil Angelides, who is the Democrat running against Da Arnold for Governor. Sadly, he really isn't making a great show of it and most folks think that Schwarzenegger will be re-elected. Hard to believe given the Governor's low poll numbers a few months ago. Seems that Angelides & the Dems are trying to paint Schwarzenegger with the "Bush" brush, but it isn't really working. As disliked as the President may be, the current Governor has enough distance in his many of his positions so you can't mistake one for the other, despite the Dems worst ads. Personally, I think the anti-Angelides ads the Republicans have been running which use the Rove-ish 'flip-flop' thing on poor Phil appear to be more effective.

The only person I know I'm going to vote for, rather than against, this time out is Jerry Brown. The former California Governor and Presidential candidate is running for Attorney General. The worst his enemies seem to be able to come up with is that Brown is anti-Death Penalty. Considering my own warbling feelings on the issue, it won't prevent me from giving my vote to Linda Ronstadt's former beau.

I'll probably have some more political ramblings before Election Day, so stay tuned.

Like to keep you all updated on the work search out here. I've had two interviews here this past week. One a kind of 'walk-in', where I handed my resume to a the librarian who is hiring 'substitute/part-time' librarians in this section of Orange County. The other, this morning, was with the city of Ontario, which seemed to go pretty well. Fingers crossed!

I've got at least two more interviews scheduled for the next few weeks and have been sending out resumes like mad all over the place. Also, my resume posted on the ALA site actually got me a call from Tacoma, WA which I found kind of funny. I was actually stationed there for a few months in early 1970 while part of the commissioning detail for the USS Shreveport.

The weather here has been beautiful the last couple of days, cool in the evenings and short sleeve during the day. The Saddleback Range looks like it may have some snow on the very top peaks, at least from where we view it.

We are heading out to a Chili Cookoff tomorrow, which supports some animal shelter & rescue groups in the area. I'm really curious to see, smell & taste some of the entries, as I'm a big chili lover. Now that I know that this event is held I'm tempted to see if I might sign up to compete next year. I make a dynamite chili, which is actually a slightly different version of a recipe I was given years ago by Babs Prisco. I still call it Bab's Chili in my recipe file.

I was going to get into some political stuff, but decided at the last minute that other blogs and the talking-heads on TV have pretty much drained the life from the Mark Foley story. Heck, even Court TV is getting into the act so you know things are bad! To be honest, it doesn't seem that Foley broke any existing laws or actually had physical contact with underage boys, but the whole thing is pretty sleazy. The GOP isn't doing themselves any favors by attempting to shift the blame unto the Dems by saying it is all political. The House GOP leadership brought this on by not acting appropriately months (if not years ago).