RAMBLIN'

Update on West Virginia coal mine---they went into the mine with air monitors and there was too much CO2 and Hydrogen to be safe so they have had to come back out and wait until they can clear the air out. The second hole into this area has been started but it's going to take some time to get into this area.

Earthquakes seem to be getting more severe to me. I watched a short clip on it yesterday and the people monitoring earthquakes say this year will probably not be any worse or better than any other year. You should Google recent earthquakes and open earthquakes from 8-30 days. I was shocked to see how many there have been---the Pacific Ocean has been completely surrounded by earthquakes in the last 30 days.

My daughters car is on the fritz again today---I wish she lived closer so that I could help her with these situations. As it is she just has to step up and figure it out herself.

Tiger Woods tees off in the Masters Tournament in one hour. Simply by coming back he has increased the viewership a whole lot---can't remember the numbers but it is a bunch. He's a great golfer---too bad he can't be a great individual---or maybe he can. Time will tell.

Is spring ever going to get here? It seems to me that we are way way way late seeing the low country free of snow. I am more than ready for spring to get here. I've got two sprinkler heads that I need to dig out and figure out why they aren't working properly before I can turn the system back on but I haven't felt like taking that job on in the miserable weather.

I also need to roto-till the garden so we are ready to plant it when the time is right.

'NUFF SAID---I'M A PROCRASTINATOR!

WEST VIRGINIA UPDATE FOR NENE

One rescue hole has been drilled and the air fan hooked up. The second hole is nearly half completed. There are no updates on the four missing miners.

TOUGH DAYS IN WEST VIRGINIA

Twenty five dead, four missing in coal mine disaster---it is unbelieveable that they are going through this again. I don't know what caused the blast but the description of what it did tells me it was huge. In their description of the aftermath of the blast they talked about the railroad steel being twisted like pretzels---I can't even imagine the force it would take to do that. I certainly hope they find the four alive.

This is one of those situations that it won't matter how many drills you have or how fast you drill---2300 feet is a deep hole and it's going to take some time to get through---I hope they get there in time.

WHAT THE-----------

Yesterday Inklings took her Mother south for surgery. She also took her Dad with them so he could be with her. By late last night we were all wondering how things went with the surgery---by all I mean Me, Inklings brothers and sisters and our kids. No word---nothing---but we do know they stayed in the town where the hospital is for the night....which is probably a good thing to not be travelling with a patient that has had major surgery....and in my opinion staying close to the hospital just in case was way smart.

My only point is that it would have been nice to know how the surgery went and how she was faring---coulda, shoulda, woulda.....

BLUE MONDAY

It is currently 48 degrees and windy. The clouds are heavy and it looks like the storm will be on us in a couple of hours. It is blustery and miserable outside. Inklings took her Mother in today for surgery to repair a hernia on her stomach so this is basically my first day alone in the house since I retired.

I had planned to do a lot of caulking of the windows and door frames today. I started to do it but changed my mind thinking the surface where the caulk was going was too cold. Probably not true but that's why I'm just going to veg out today.

THE UPRIGHT FUEL TYPE

I stole this picture from a friends face book last night. I wish I knew how to make it screen size. It is of the 1993 Malibu Fire and the picture was taken by a Boise BLM Smoke Jumper from Santa Monica Beach where they were bedded down. My friend was the Air Ops Branch Director on this fire. I was a field observer in Topanga Canyon. This picture is of the fire burning in and through Topanga Canyon. Many of you that have worked with me have heard me talk about the fire comin' to town and about the houses (I have called them the upright fuel type) just being totally involved in the fire in an instant---almost like they exploded. This is the fire that discussion comes from. I was in front of this fire watching about 100 homes per hour go up in the conflagration.

As I moved south and west I was just in awe at how each building was there and then it was totally engulfed in flames. I was also in awe that you could see the flames moving around inside the buildings through the walls. It was impressive, it was scary, it was the single greatest display of fire I have ever seen. During this night houses burned at the rate of about 100 structures per hour. Many of the homes were owned by movie stars (several million dollar value homes) and some were owned by just normal people (half a million dollar value homes). The fire didn't care it burned them all the same and involved them in the fire just as quickly. My job was to monitor and report on the advance of the fire to make sure the fire team in charge of it knew what was going on in the front so they could evauate the public and the firefighters in a timely manner.

Through the night the evacuation rate was about 1.5 miles per hour. Everyone inside that 1.5 miles had to be moved---it was a monstrous job---my hat is off to the Sheriff and his organization for being able to pull it off. Eventually I was on Malibu Beach and totally safe. I have joked a lot since then about having the best escape route and safety zone of my career on this fire. I was absolutely sure I was safe and that the escape route and safety zone would not burn. It would be pretty tough to ignite the PACIFIC OCEAN.

;=)