24/7 Chat About Anything

[Qxxx]

I saw a perfect set of beautiful wings the other morning, they were sticking out of either side of a big lizard’s mouth.

The lead in to your butterfly joke got de-storyed frog. I can't remember the last time I saw one. Where are they anymore?

And strangely, I'd not seen a real bumblebee for many years (decades ??), but a couple of weeks ago one flew into the front room through a barely opened balcony door. It seemed confused. So I ran over and slid the door wide open, and it turned and flew away. Be free, little bee. Yea.

 

[Sofisintown]

All the bubble bees were in my yard this summer, that's why you didn't see them. That one escaped, I guess.
My neighbor, who's afraid of bees, was in panic.

 

[Qxxx]

I was in panic that the bubble bee would panic, and beat its little head against the balcony door window trying to get out. But nice to know they're still around. Got any fire flies? I've not seen on since I was a kid.

 

[travelaround]

Early this morning my son came by to return the cargo trailer. He then left for Reno, and won't be back anytime soon. This afternoon my daughter and her family left town as well, heading back to Happy Camp.

I was at the post office when I got a call from a Red Cross worker in Texas. She let me know I have only a few more days in the hotel and must focus on finding another place to live.

Option One: I decided to submit the Section 8 application I'd been given. I really don't want to pay rent, but heard FEMA might pay for it for a while, so it is a possibility.. nothing certain. This strategy could keep me out here in Yreka a while longer.

Option Two: While talking to neighbors here at the hotel (more HC evacuees) it was suggested that I see about getting a travel trailer from the tribe (Karuk Tribe, which has its administrative offices in HC) ... and that I might be able to set up the trailer on my own property... but I'd have to clear that with the environmental health agency and FEMA. I'll look into that possibility. A better possibility is to set up the trailer in my friend's front yard on the other side of the river. It was not affected by the fire.

Option Three: Live in my van and cargo trailer, of course!

Today I went to the assessor's office for a copy of the deed - which FEMA will ask to see when they inspect the property, which I have to be there for. It is things like this that keep me from traveling. A FEMA inspection (I have NO idea when that will happen) and a CA environmental health meeting at which I must sign over to them the right to clean up my property. So... don't know if I'll make it to Arizona this winter. It would be nice... if possible.

My daughter suggested that I put my boxes into the skoolie which is in storage. Good idea, because there are no storage spaces available in this area.

In case you're not tired of seeing burned places, you might like seeing my son's recent video. It shows the ruins of his place, and mine.

[video=youtube]

 

[bullfrog]

It seems bees in general are on the decline due to lack of habitat. Areas that were protected in the last few years are no longer. Don’t get a political discussion started. The big black carpenter bees lived in my shed I used to have attached to my old garage in Kentucky. They had drilled so many holes I figured eventually it would collapse. I was wrong a huge Red Headed Woodpecker destroyed it trying to get to them! People seem to not realize we aren’t the only things trying to live on this planet.

 

[desert_sailing]

People seem to not realize we aren’t the only things trying to live on this planet.

They realize ..they just don't care.

The higher up a person is, either on the food chain or the "pedestal"  the less they are concerned with whats "below" themselves.

I did just interview about 15 bee keepers last month here in northidaho area. Surprisingly they ALL had great reports with minimal loss of the colonies due to disease and various die off. Every beekeeper I spoke with was pleased with the health of their colonies..

I learn alot from talking to these producers. I thought It would be near impossible task to inventory bees unlike cattle or other livestock..how the heck do you count each bee???  Beekeepers probably make great accountants! They know their numbers!

 

[maki2]

They estimate the number of bees by the number of frames. For instance a quick internet research shows how that is done. A full deep frame fin a hiveully covered with bees has about .5 lbs of bees which equates to about 1750 individuals.

Lots of scientific studies on bees have determined things such as how much bees weigh and how many bees are on a typical frame in a thriving hive. They have to keep those students in agricultural colleges busy with lab projects to keep the government and food industry sponsored funds coming into the schools. Honey bees are an important thing not just for honey products but for crop pollination. That means there is lots of research related to bees and hives.

 

[travelaround]

Just talked to the attorney who wants to sue our power company. He seems like a competent young man in a firm that has sued over many wildfires. Of course like anything it will take time, probably years to settle. He will sue for the replacement cost of my home, not for what the county said it was worth.

 

[maki2]

I dont know much about such lawsuots but if it is a class act settlement and you join up does that prevent you from getti g other stuff done such as having your land cleaned up or getting things such as temporary FEMA otr low cost tribal housing. Probably importannt to know such things before joining into a settlemnt action. Because one thing could shut down another and then you could end up in the hole if you have to make reimbursement pzyments. Or you could come out way a head if you bypass some of the other assistance. Never having been involved in a natural disaster I know very little about such things.Bbut there must be some low income legal advisers who could answer such questions.

 

[Qxxx]

Just talked to the attorney who wants to sue our power company. 

Is it the power company that was the cause of the Slater fire?

 

[maki2]

Woke up to strange weather. Partly sunny but then i heard some loud thunder in the distance. As it turnsed. Out some nearby areas got a hail event. Glad it skipped over my immefiate area.

Did some shopping two towns away at Goodwill, Lowes and Sportsmans Warehouse. I have never been to Sportsmans before but they had some items I had been looking for in other stores. At lowes I purcashed a small 400 watt ceramic heater. Hopefully it will be just the right size to keep the condensation reduced at night when staying where there is shore power. I do have an older 1500 watt ceramic heater but itt cuts off and on all night and has a somewhat noisy of a fan in it.

Condensation wont be as big of an issue in the southwest with the lower humidity, or at least I hope that will be true.

This evening I am heading to the laundromat. Woke up clumsy this morning and spilled coffe on my blankets. oh well i had planned to wash them soon anyway. There is a Teriyaki place across from the laundry that I have been meaning to eat at while I am camped in this area. . I hope they still use the same recipe they did when I lived in this town.

No big excitement in my life but an Earthromer rig just checked into the casmpground this evening. That was fun to see pull in. Beautiful looking camper plus truck setup.

 

[desert_sailing]

Are you in a campground that allows only certain ages/quality of set up to stay? Have you encountered many of those so far out that way?

 

[Sofisintown]

I was in panic that the bubble bee would panic, and beat its little head against the balcony door window trying to get out. But nice to know they're still around. Got any fire flies? I've not seen on since I was a kid.

Yes, lots of fireflies in the summer evenings, no shortage of bugs here. Summers are warm and somewhat humid, so they hang around.
The problem is the mosquitoes like it too.

 

[travelaround]

Is it the power company that was the cause of the Slater fire?

That's the rumor... it was being investigated by multiple organizations, businesses and agencies. From the morning of the fire it was said a tree fell over onto a power line during a windstorm. I got a Facebook message from a friend that morning saying that, and that there was a fire near Luther Gulch. That rang a bell, because my daughter's home was at Luther Gulch. I phoned her and she was in the middle of being evacuated at that moment.

However... the investigations are not completed. The attorney, who has a lot of experience with these types of cases, apparently thinks it is sure enough to make a trip up here. He went to Happy Camp earlier today expecting to meet with only a few people and was surprised when a group of 70+ people wanted to meet, so it turned out to be like a town hall. Afterward he stopped by our hotel to talk to me and my neighbor who was the one who sought him out in the first place. He will return and we will get a conference room hopefully, to invite all the other fire survivors still out here in hotel rooms... the people who actually lost their homes.

@Maki - From what he said, it sound like the lawsuit will only cover the expenses not covered by Red Cross and FEMA. Example: the hotel room expense is paid by Red Cross, and so I can't sue for compensation for hotel room costs. Whatever FEMA gives me will be deducted from whatever I can ask for in the lawsuit.

It will not be a class action lawsuit. It is called a "mass tort" as everyone has similar issues but each case will be handled separately.

I've pretty much made up my mind that I need to be a vandweller full-time for the duration until I rebuild. I could rent and then ask for compensation, but I think vandwelling is a better choice and then I can save more money toward the eventual building of a home of some kind. I would love to include a few RV pads with plumbing and electricity so I can invite vandweller friends to help me occupy the land as a respite place along the paths of their journeys.

 

[desert_sailing]

T. I would love to include a few RV pads with plumbing and electricity so I can invite vandweller friends to help me occupy the land as a respite place along the paths of their journeys.

Leave the light on.
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[maki2]

That sign looks a little too much like flickering flames. You might give the Happy Camp residents a PTSD attack if they saw it from a distance.

 

[Sofisintown]

Leave the light on.

I was in Tucumcari many years ago. Early May. What I remember most is the dust.

 

[maki2]

• 
  T-A if you can get a power pole with a plug-in and a frost proof water siogot working and put down a gravel driveway. Then you can set up one of tbe portable garage shelters that is tall enough to fit over the van. That would work for shelter while you get tne property ready for a structure. Getting the utiliies restored will cost some bucks if what is existing is no longer viable. Work on a few plans of action that get you moved onto the property while camping in your van or a temporary loaner trailer. Starting out at a neighbors sounds like a good idea. You could even put the garare tarp shelter there first and move it later.I had one of those for a few years and it was great. I got mine through Costco but lots of places sell them. I erected it with just one helper in a day with a second day to tie it down to some pressure treated rim plates secured into the ground. That gives you some privacy for your van so you can do things like leave the van door open and not have to worry about putting up blackout curtains at night. Plus you will have a bit of room for an outside cooking table and chair inside of the garage tent shelter.

 

[maki2]

Laying in bed, peeking ot the widow thinking... is it light yet?  I do miss tbose long hours of dtslight we get in the summertime. If I was rich I would want to have a home base in the southern hemisphere as well as the northern. Both homre bases with moderate climates.

 

[nature lover]

I’m changing camps today leaving the pond in Lancaster County going to the chicken farm in Berks County. There’s an aircraft museum across the highway from that farm and I often see the bi-plane doing a loop D loop’s if I can get a video of it I’ll post it. I love seeing it but I don’t think I’d like to ride in it. I don’t even like roller coasters since I got a little older. We had a low of 55 last night so I slept with the doors open we have a high of 80 today. Unusual for Pennsylvania and October 10 years ago this week we had 16 inches of snow. The kids canceled Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners because of Covid not wanting my mom, aunt, me and other elderly to come so I’m taking off for Florida Lord willing on 10 November. I plan to take almost a month to get there seeing the nature centers and refugeS is on the way. I’m about as excited as a child on Christmas morning.

TA - I don’t want to tell you what to do I don’t have that right. I have a lot of experience with lawyers I even have some of the family. I’ve never had good experiences with them. If I was in your situation I’d get together with others who are in this class action suit to support each other and evaluate what needs done and then together work with the lawyer. There is strength in numbers and you may be able to hold the reins of the lawyer a little tighter, working together. One thing some folks who lost their homes might want to consider is that the insurance company has an interest, if they had insurance ,and the suit might pay the insurance company rather than the owner. Most of these guys and gals that are lawyers aren’t out to help you as much as they are out to help their pocketbook and bank account. Not knowing this guy I will not say that about him but since he contacted you he almost sounds like an ambulance chaser. I was involved in one class action suit where the lawyer contacted by mail promising all sorts of things I’ve got $6.55 what do you think the lawyer got if the rest of us in the suit only got that? Buyer beware and in this case you are the buyer he has no vested interest in this and without you and other victims he has no way to make money on it. Saying that he could be an honest man wanting to help you people but I find the majority or not. Why do you think that 75% of the politicians in Washington are lawyers? I do not mean to offend or metal so you can take or leave what I said it’s up to you. God bless you I keep thinking about and praying for you and your children and all the happy campers.