Books, Beaches, & Blather

Sign of the Times

I think, no, I know my new car is smarter than me.  It just sits outside quietly.  Smugly.  I know deep down inside it's laughing at my inferior intelligence, taunting me with its environmental haughtiness and ingenious engineering. 

(It has a backup camera! A backup camera!  When you push the button for the car to go into reverse - you shift no gears - you can see everything behind you, and it even tells you how close you are in feet to the nearest object!  Hallelujah, parallel parking just got easier.)

The Sun'll Come Out

After two very odd and different weeks, so far this one is swimming along in a low-key and productive way.  Life has returned to normal - I've been buying books with other peoples' money, the sky is clear, blue, and sunny, and I've been able to get quite a few items on the work to-do list crossed off.  It's a big week: this is the week when the two most important women in my life celebrate birthdays.  Yesterday was my mom's; Friday is C's.  To celebrate C's we're having a Latin American themed night (on Sunday I read this with interest).   On Thursday work will take me up to Marin County for the day.  And sometime this week (tonight?) we'll be getting a new car; we've been fairly happy with the Vibe but it goes off warranty soon and its nagging fuel pump problems scare me.  Since we need and have only one car between the two of us, I feel it only makes sense to make sure that the one we have is reliable.  All in all a busy week, I guess, but I'll take this kind of busy any week over the last one.

What's New

Husband becomes President.  Husband and wife move to the nation's capital from a remote, economically dispossessed region.  Wife decides to "move" within her country and run for Senate from the nation's most populous city.  Citizens accuse her of carpetbagging.  Wife wins senate election.  She actually proves to be a remarkably effective Senator.  The popular President Husband steps down.  Wife runs for President.  Wife is elected President, becoming the first female elected to the Presidency of her country.

This is huge news in Buenos Aires.

Aftermath Photos

After this draining week, I'm taking tomorrow off for some rest and relaxation.  We're headed to Santa Barbara, obviously.

Here are some pics of the ordeal taken by my father-in-law.  They were here for all of this; I did tell you that, didn't I?  Bummer of a trip.

Have a great weekend.  I hope next week is better than this one.

It's a State Issue, and That's the Difference

Yep, this is just about right.

Walking Around

I have to say that the fire damage on campus is a lot worse than I'd expected.  No, no major buildings were affected, but to see how much of the landscaping was torched is scary.  While we were all huddled in the Tyler Campus Center Sunday morning, fires were raging (literally) all around us.  One fire came within just a few feet of our main library and our administration building.  Quite a bit of the mountain ridges that encircle the campus are black.  Streetlight poles completely melted.  The palm trees on Banowsky Boulevard are cinged.  A significant chunk of Alumni Park burned. 

We're really lucky.

Mike in the Graphic

The Graphic has the story here.

An Aside

To those who keep calling and writing in to national media outlets saying that you don't think "our tax dollars" should go towards helping "rich Californians" rebuild:  Just whose tax dollars are you talking about?  If given the chance, I think many Californians would prefer to keep the entirety of federal taxes our state pays here in our state.  If our state seceded, we'd immediately be offered a place in the G8...but since we tried that as a country a while back and it didn't work, I think it's best for us all to be in this thing called America together.

Peace

PCH has been reopened in both directions, and business at Pepperdine will return to normal tomorrow.  Malibu Canyon Fire 2007 is over.  Thanks for all your concern and for the blog visits.

Rumors

Rumors are flying around that PCH will be re-opened tonight.  While the university has yet to make an official announcement, I'm betting all will be back to normal here tomorrow.  Things are getting dramatically worse in San Diego, but they are getting better here in Malibu. 

Update (1:43pm):  All campuses, including the Malibu campus, will be open tomorrow, and everyone should report to work.