My closest nearby friends lost their house in the huge 2017 wildfire that burned so much of this city.
No amount of moves would have equaled that devastation.
Within 20 minutes, they had nothing… not a change of clothes, a photo, a blanket, a frying pan.. If you move you take those.
Someone luckily saw it start from outside and yelled to them… They ran out with their wallets and keys in their hands.
He quickly moved his truck across the street… she didn’t have time to move her car cos she was trying to let the cats out. (They were the ones who had a changing population of about 40… working with a local rescue group.)
She managed to get 6 of them into his truck…. they never found out how many others died and how many ran off into the night. Her car burned to a crisp, as did the trees outside.
They drove to a friend’s mother’s house about 35 miles away, and ended up staying there.
The fire department put the fire out, but the water and chemicals ruined anything that didn’t burn, and looters stole anything salvageable the next day while they couldn’t go home.
They never really got over it, or got their place rebuilt. The house was really old; the insurance insufficient.
We had fires here in Oregon in 2020. The nearest to Mom was about a mile away, but her sister and her brother both lost their homes, and like you said, everything they owned. They had nothing. The rebuild literally killed them – both died within months of getting their homes back – one a few months after, the other a few months before it was even finished. And just this month, my uncle passed away too, only a year and half after he finally got back into his own place. They all just lost so much they couldn’t get over it.
I don’t usually talk about this stuff online… not sure why I did last night. I guess that burning house triggered something.
But yeah, those friends have also both died since then. She was older than him, and had a heart attack in 2021, at 69, and he died at only 62 from complications of kidney disease in 2024.
So yes, there were other issues, but I know the stress and devastation pushed it over the edge.
Fighting with the insurance company, FEMA, agencies requiring permits and major lot clearing and leveling, even though the house had been there 85 years… and the predatory companies getting bids to do lot repairs…. and having to spend so much on all that, the insurance money for rebuilding wasn’t enough.
They ended up ordering a prefab kit, smaller than their house, and hadn’t found a crew when she died… he basically gave up.
Plus they never got over the pain and guilt of losing all those cats.
Exactly right. My uncle lost one cat, but my aunt had enough time to gather her three before they had to drive off. So at least she had them for those next few short years.
And the insurance issues…oh my. Plus, since my aunt’s place was on a riverbank, the county gave them no end of trouble too,
A 10 hour exposure would have been streaked, unless the telescope/camera is mounted on some device that would compensate exactly for the rotation of the earth.
Yeah, I did some thinking about both the “I” and “telescope”. I think that image would also require something more than what I’d consider a personal device.
Mine was a stick on the floor of an old ford pickup truck. It had granny gears so low that you started in 2nd, unless you were on a hill.
Pop and i were in the hills looking for rocks when the clutch cable broke. He put it in low low and started the engine. We crawled out of the hills, but it was better than walking.
I’ve driven several vehicles where the clutch wasn’t working, even in traffic. The main things you need to be able to do is left foot braking so you can rev the engine when shifting down the box, and lots of anticipation! Most professional truck drivers only use the clutch for pulling away.
I follow a ‘toober ‘Timelapse Trucker’, he works in the oilfields in Alberta Canada and drives a tri-axle Kenworth C500 (Named ‘Ketchup’ because it’s bright red) with a 19-speed (4 over 4 with splitter (Which gives 16 forward), crawler gear, and two reverse gears) plus a 3-speed auxiliary box. He pulls some heavy loads, and watching him go up and down the gears on some of the stiff climbs with 50-odd tons on the trailer, all without using the clutch to shift is something to be seen.
I only lasted seven months doing long haul before switching to school bus. It’s all in the rhythm. You first learn to shift by watching your rpm, but it really doesn’t take long to hear when it’s time to shift.
I drove a school bus in Anchorage…lost a clutch on the way to the school with a load of kids. Made it on time, too. (I confess – I didn’t make complete stops at a couple of stop signs…) The mechanics came and towed the bus to the shop, looking sideways at me wondering how I got it to the school to start with.
The kids, obviously, weren’t happy about it either. They were hoping for some time off.
If he’s using a copper penny to make the connection, wouldn’t he have to leave it there? Or just till it turns over?
(I guess I’m not redneck enough… Even though I drove an old car for years that would stall out when it was cold, and i had to learn to hold the butterfly open with a screwdriver.)
The switch takes the place of the ‘run’ key position, the coin across the wire ends is the starter circuit. It’d be the same as jumping across the starter solenoid with a screwdriver on older cars.
Same here, when I used to work on cars it was fairly common to do that, and stop the engine by pulling off the feed to the coil when trying to diagnose/repair running issues without having to move from leaning over the engine bay.
My grandfather would.
He was, at one point, a traveling tent preacher. In the south.
That meant two services, at least. One for the whites, one for everyone else.
He always had that second service.
Heh – better sit Cleo down for some Columbo reruns – Dog might be a better role model. (Dog first appeared in the series in the episode Etude in Black (1972).)
Love that area – Bryce Canyon after a light snow is simply amazing. (Warning: you do NOT want to be there during the snow…nasty stuff when it cold and wet. I nearly froze my toze.)
.
I often refer to mine as speed bumps.
Especially when they lie right in the middle of what little hallway i have.
.
I’ll sleep in the car.
About half a mile up the road.
I hear the next county is nice this time of year
.,
(Remember MTV?)
My grandmother used to say, “Three moves equals one fire.” This might have been the equivalent of 4 or 5 moves.
My closest nearby friends lost their house in the huge 2017 wildfire that burned so much of this city.
No amount of moves would have equaled that devastation.
Within 20 minutes, they had nothing… not a change of clothes, a photo, a blanket, a frying pan.. If you move you take those.
Someone luckily saw it start from outside and yelled to them… They ran out with their wallets and keys in their hands.
He quickly moved his truck across the street… she didn’t have time to move her car cos she was trying to let the cats out. (They were the ones who had a changing population of about 40… working with a local rescue group.)
She managed to get 6 of them into his truck…. they never found out how many others died and how many ran off into the night. Her car burned to a crisp, as did the trees outside.
They drove to a friend’s mother’s house about 35 miles away, and ended up staying there.
The fire department put the fire out, but the water and chemicals ruined anything that didn’t burn, and looters stole anything salvageable the next day while they couldn’t go home.
They never really got over it, or got their place rebuilt. The house was really old; the insurance insufficient.
🥺😞
If I didn’t say it… Welcome to Cleo and Company!
Very sad!
We had fires here in Oregon in 2020. The nearest to Mom was about a mile away, but her sister and her brother both lost their homes, and like you said, everything they owned. They had nothing. The rebuild literally killed them – both died within months of getting their homes back – one a few months after, the other a few months before it was even finished. And just this month, my uncle passed away too, only a year and half after he finally got back into his own place. They all just lost so much they couldn’t get over it.
I don’t usually talk about this stuff online… not sure why I did last night. I guess that burning house triggered something.
But yeah, those friends have also both died since then. She was older than him, and had a heart attack in 2021, at 69, and he died at only 62 from complications of kidney disease in 2024.
So yes, there were other issues, but I know the stress and devastation pushed it over the edge.
Fighting with the insurance company, FEMA, agencies requiring permits and major lot clearing and leveling, even though the house had been there 85 years… and the predatory companies getting bids to do lot repairs…. and having to spend so much on all that, the insurance money for rebuilding wasn’t enough.
They ended up ordering a prefab kit, smaller than their house, and hadn’t found a crew when she died… he basically gave up.
Plus they never got over the pain and guilt of losing all those cats.
Exactly right. My uncle lost one cat, but my aunt had enough time to gather her three before they had to drive off. So at least she had them for those next few short years.
And the insurance issues…oh my. Plus, since my aunt’s place was on a riverbank, the county gave them no end of trouble too,
Too scary to think about in California.
On the plus side, we don’t need the exterminators to come back.
,.
The sponsor name on top looks like it’s painted bigger than the headliners’ names.
That’s capitalism in a nutshell…
.,
A 10 hour exposure would have been streaked, unless the telescope/camera is mounted on some device that would compensate exactly for the rotation of the earth.
Unless it was in orbit. Then that takes the “I” out of the statement. 🙂
Yeah, I did some thinking about both the “I” and “telescope”. I think that image would also require something more than what I’d consider a personal device.
.,,,
I know who it is, but what’s in the glass?
,,.
DUCK!
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.”
Scaup me out!
.,.,
Yup. I’ve even seen shift controls as push-buttons on the dashboard.
Learned to drive with that arrangement.
Mine was a stick on the floor of an old ford pickup truck. It had granny gears so low that you started in 2nd, unless you were on a hill.
Pop and i were in the hills looking for rocks when the clutch cable broke. He put it in low low and started the engine. We crawled out of the hills, but it was better than walking.
I’ve driven several vehicles where the clutch wasn’t working, even in traffic. The main things you need to be able to do is left foot braking so you can rev the engine when shifting down the box, and lots of anticipation! Most professional truck drivers only use the clutch for pulling away.
I follow a ‘toober ‘Timelapse Trucker’, he works in the oilfields in Alberta Canada and drives a tri-axle Kenworth C500 (Named ‘Ketchup’ because it’s bright red) with a 19-speed (4 over 4 with splitter (Which gives 16 forward), crawler gear, and two reverse gears) plus a 3-speed auxiliary box. He pulls some heavy loads, and watching him go up and down the gears on some of the stiff climbs with 50-odd tons on the trailer, all without using the clutch to shift is something to be seen.
I only lasted seven months doing long haul before switching to school bus. It’s all in the rhythm. You first learn to shift by watching your rpm, but it really doesn’t take long to hear when it’s time to shift.
I drove a school bus in Anchorage…lost a clutch on the way to the school with a load of kids. Made it on time, too. (I confess – I didn’t make complete stops at a couple of stop signs…) The mechanics came and towed the bus to the shop, looking sideways at me wondering how I got it to the school to start with.
The kids, obviously, weren’t happy about it either. They were hoping for some time off.
Yup!
The car I learned on came equipped with a stick so you could rev the engine while your feet were busy on the brake and clutch…
I have. Our family 1965 Chevy Bel-Air had it.
That is what I learned to drive with as a teen.
,..,.
Yeah, that’d work. But I think I would have put a little more effort into the repairs.
Ain’t that about redneck? 😀
A redneck might know how it works in order to do it. 95% of the rest of the people would be clueless.
Resourcefulness!!!
If he’s using a copper penny to make the connection, wouldn’t he have to leave it there? Or just till it turns over?
(I guess I’m not redneck enough… Even though I drove an old car for years that would stall out when it was cold, and i had to learn to hold the butterfly open with a screwdriver.)
The switch takes the place of the ‘run’ key position, the coin across the wire ends is the starter circuit. It’d be the same as jumping across the starter solenoid with a screwdriver on older cars.
Been there, done that!
Same here, when I used to work on cars it was fairly common to do that, and stop the engine by pulling off the feed to the coil when trying to diagnose/repair running issues without having to move from leaning over the engine bay.
..,,
That is a much better result than what might have happened!
.
.,
You’d think a church would welcome everybody.
My grandfather would.
He was, at one point, a traveling tent preacher. In the south.
That meant two services, at least. One for the whites, one for everyone else.
He always had that second service.
Well, they’re still on their horses, so maybe they were just passing through, so to speak.
Most churches frown on bringing your horse inside.
That’s why they have hitching posts!
But didn’t most people get hitched in church?
.,,
Looks like a bun with sesame seeds.
But fuzzy.
Now hold that pose while I get my paintbrush and easel.
.
I remember big sheets of cardboard.
It looks to me like she was trying to lie down in the sun, not slide down the hill….
Though she’s kinda oddly dressed for sunbathing.
I have to recuse myself.
Recognized even the young one at once.
Picture
Yes
Heh – better sit Cleo down for some Columbo reruns – Dog might be a better role model. (Dog first appeared in the series in the episode Etude in Black (1972).)
One of the cleverest Cleo animations!
Rainbow Point – Utah.
Love that area – Bryce Canyon after a light snow is simply amazing. (Warning: you do NOT want to be there during the snow…nasty stuff when it cold and wet. I nearly froze my toze.)
Seems to be a Talking Heads day.
I wonder if they ever gave any thought to synching up the audio and the video.
Strange… I just watched it, and for me it was synched.
The fa-fa-fas and cymbal clashes and such happened in time with the lip movements and drumsticks.
I think somebody did something to it. The Tina Fay’s base solo is just wrong in this one.
I think you’re right, there’s some odd desyncs throughout the whole thing.
Love the shower cap on Claude. He is so concerned about getting his hair wet. Both of them.
Well, when you only have two, you have to be extra careful not to let them get washed away 🙂