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OK This is officially the WORST it’s ever been…

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I’m talking about the flatland ANIMALS from the areas surrounding Wrightwood.

In many ways my neighborhood is a microcosm of this area of Southern California, since the ANIMALS are able to surround my neighbors and I thanks to the flood control project.

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Yes, THAT flood control project. 

See, in addition to the gaping wound the Flood Control district left in their wake, they also smoothed out access to the nice wide channel, and they created lovely access roads on both sides of the channel.

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What was once a rocky, small, not so nice place to play in the snow, is now a great place and accommodates 300 people or more screaming and yelling.

But wait, it gets better!

People can now access the ENTIRE wash all the way up to the forestry service property line. Which means people want to park on our street, in our driveways, and on all the other streets and driveways going all the way up behind the houses that abut the wash.

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My neighbor was right. Her fence is actually keeping the ANIMALS off her property although they’re constantly peering through the slats, and trying the latch on her gate.

There was a strange car that drove up to the end of the road (A Private Road) and then turned around. As he came back down I told him “This isn’t the snow play area, your need to go to the ski resort at the other end of town.”

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He said, “I’m just going to park here,” I said “You can’t” He said, “Watch me” At which point I reached for my phone.

It’s out of hand here now. 

Too many people, too much trash, too many low class people.

These photos show the damage done to the newly planted pines and Mt. Mahogany plants. 

The trampling of the snow is after only one day. We counted over 100 people at one point in the area shown in the picture to the right, I snapped this photo after a sweep by the police.

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All told we believe that there were about 300 people up & down the wash area.

Then there’s these people, They just decided that they’d play in our street and on the neighbors property. 

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On the plus side,  We spoke today with a very nice officer who told us that we pretty much have no rights.

I appreciated his honesty. We, as homeowners have no right to ask any of the crowds to leave unless they are on our property. The police can only ask them to leave if they’re parked blocking the streets or firelanes, or if the police actually witness something amiss happening.

Just before sunset, the cops had to come again. This time after a fight broke out, they gave the order to disperse and waited until everyone got the hell out of the area. 

I suppose having a throw down is a nice end to the day for everyone, if you’re some kind of lowlife trash. On positive was that the crowds weren’t here into the evening like they were yesterday.

Yeah all these people want to have a nice day with their family, but what about my right to have a quiet day in my own home. 

Don’t get us wrong, we get that people want to have a fun snow day. We get that traffic is bad, and we get that it’s a holiday weekend. 

However, should we have to hunker down in our homes when there are designated, maintained play areas a short distance away? Should we have to watch the area be littered, and people urinating or defecating? Should we be expected to clean up dirty diapers, and fast food wrappers? This is OUR neighborhood! These people wouldn’t tolerate it, if we behaved this way where THEY live.

This is not disneyland and these ANIMALS are not paying guests.

I moved here from the beach to avoid this kind of crap. I live in the end of town furthest from the ski lifts and snow play areas. I chose this area precisely because it was off the beaten trail and because of its quiet family atmosphere. When I moved up here there wasn’t anyplace that remotely looked like a place to play in the snow. 

And for 15 years we had no trouble. 

Now, thanks to the county not listening, thinking, or planning…

My next door neighbor bailed out today. They just couldn’t take the chaos, and swarms of people wandering around us on all sides.

You feel like you’re trapped in your home. You feel like you have no privacy, the traffic is a nightmare, the police are stretched to the breaking point, and we have observed a number of “questionable” people checking out the vacation homes. 

There is of course no relief in sight, until the thaw. 

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New Years Eve 2014

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Here it is, the end of the year.

It’s strange, It hasn’t felt like too much like the holiday season and sure doesn’t feel like the end already.

I guess that’s just a tribute to the weirdness of the world in general. Ya gotta admit that this year has been a roller-coaster and not a particularly fun one.  For me spending part of Feb and all of March in Florida was nice despite the reason I was there.

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Aside from some of the “odd” driving there, I actually like Florida better than California. That wasn’t always true but now I think Florida is a hands down winner. (Yeah… make of that euphemism what you will.)

I like Kentucky, Tennessee, and most of the Southeast quite a lot. I enjoyed speaking English, and for a change, not having to engage the “Citispeak” filters to understand what was being said to me. I appreciated the accent-less newscasters of the South.

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One of the funniest contrasts for me personally is that FL was settled by the Spanish, has a large Cuban population, and yet not ONE of the newscasters down there broke into Spanish pronunciation when they said “De La Cruz, or Ortiz, or Espinosa.” Even if it was their own name. I found myself wondering what that was about. From a California perspective the utter lack of PC was, well refreshing and for the first time in YEARS I was actually relaxed and at ease.

Interesting when you realize just how much energy constantly second guessing yourself to make sure you don’t offend accidentally takes out of your day. I felt better in Florida emotionally, physically, and spiritually than I have in decades.

I think that is something that bears further investigation in the New Year.

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We’ve had lots of crazy stuff this year.

The Middle East drawdown has been reversed (“There will be no boots on the ground. Well I meant to say except the advisors, but they won’t be in combat roles. Well, they will be in combat roles when necessary.”)

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Obamacare has proven to be a major pain in the ass, and promises to continue to be a hemorrhoid for the foreseeable future. Oh by the way, hemorrhoids are not covered that will be 12,000 dollars please.

  • NewImageClimate Change a fact
  • Climate change not so much a fact
  • Benghazi
  • Obama Vacationing
  • The NSA
  • The IRS
  • Obama Playing Golf
  • Lois Learner emails lost, then found.
  • The CIA
  • Malasia Flight
  • Passenger plane shot down over Ukraine
  • Putin annexing territory
  • NewImageObama Vacationing
  • Putin Ignoring Obama
  • Holders’ resignation
  • Obama Playing Golf
  • ISIS ISIL or whatever the hell they’re calling themselves at this moment
  • Palestine attacks Israel
  • Obama Vacationing
  • The lie swallowed by the UN that Israelis are mean and killing innocent Palestinians
  • A torture report that we largely didn’t give a shit about. Wire the towel heads up and kick up the voltage!
  • NewImageObama Vacationing
  • Kids flooding the border from Mexico
  • Scandals
  • Ebola
  • More lies
  • A serious butt whooping for the Democrats
  • The betrayal of the American people by the Republicans
  • GamerGate
  • NewImageObama Playing Golf
  • Campus Rape
  • The Fictitious war on women in the western world. Ignoring the factual war on women in the Middle East and Africa.
  • The Hidden war on men
  • Amnesty
  • Obama playing golf
  • Ferguson
  • NewImageHands up, pants down
  • Al Sharpton inciting riots then backing away from the chaos HE CAUSED
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  • Can’t Breathe
  • FBI Confirmed North Korea hacked Sony
  • FBI confirmation called into question by REAL computer security analysts
  • NewImagePolice shootings
  • Obama on Vacation, Playing Golf
  • Open season declared ON the police
  • De Blasio tossing the cops under the bus
  • De Blasio ignored by the cops…

All the while the drone of the talking heads on CNN, MSNBC, and other main stream media telling us that everything is getting better in stark counterpoint to what they said before the last commercial break.

And that’s just what I remember…

Really?

This is what we have to show for the year, nothing resolved, our country more divided than I can ever recall, and nothing that begins to look like leadership from our leaders.

Honestly, I’m pretty disgusted. I’ll be glad to put 2014 six feet under.

I look forward to a new year, hopefully a much better year.

I have few resolutions.

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Get back into shape

Keep the “News” to a minimum, and with it dial down the noise in my world. The down side is that my blog posts may become far less frequent.

Decide if its time to jettison Twitter from my life. When something is more of a downer than uplifting, maybe its time. That’s the place I got to with FaceBook. Since getting Facebook out of my life, I haven’t missed it one bit.

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Simplify my existence

Find a decent job

Write my second and third books

In the Immediate future however…

This evening, I’m going to get myself a stiff drink, watch the boob tube, and comfort the dogs when idiots start honking horns, shooting guns, and setting off illegal fireworks.

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What about you?

What do you have planned for 2015?

As always, Be safe.

Don’t drive if you’ve had one too many.

I look forward to blathering at you in the new year.

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Was at a Target yesterday

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You know how it is, You’re checking out the after Christmas sales and trying to find decorations or stuff that you need at huge discounts.

I happen to walk by the Christmas card aisle, and there are a ton of cards on sale. 

I’m thinking “Humm, I wonder if I pick up some of these, would I have a better shot at getting holiday cards out BEFORE Christmas next year.”

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I start shopping and I find backgrounds that I like, but the text of the greetings isn’t something I really like. Then It dawns on me I can’t just get something that says “Merry Christmas”.

In this world, ya have to have Happy Holiday cards, Merry Christmas Cards, Happy Solstice cards, Joyous Kwanza, and finally Congratulatory Ramadan cards.

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What the hell do you say in a Ramadan card? Congratulations on your relatives that blew themselves up?

Don’t even think about the rabid Atheists… I don’t think there’s a card that says, “Thank you for screwing up my formerly happy holiday because you’re so oversensitive.”

It’s gotten to the point these days that you need a computer just to keep track of which of your friends are which religion.

That’s when I remembered why I make my own Holiday cards.

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I long for the days when people were smart enough, and gracious enough to simply accept the kindness of being remembered during the holiday season.

My Jewish friends have no problem if someone screws up and send them a Christmas card, after all it’s the thought that counts.

Isn’t it enough to know someone was thinking about you, and remembered you during this time of year?

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You know you’ve been in a relationship too long when…

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You almost fight on Christmas Eve about the direction a ceiling fan is going.

Yep, you read that right.

Here’s the deal, I had to flip a breaker so that I could replace a broken light switch.

As an aside, this light switch was a $50 motion sensing complicated deal made in China. As usual all I could think about was the line from Mr Scott in one of the Star Trek movies. “The more you overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the works.”

Anyhow, once again I discover that the electrician the builder contracted while this house was being built, had been hit by 220V once too often. The single breaker, turns off all the overhead lighting fixtures, and the sockets that feed the network closet. It’s a miracle that the breaker doesn’t trip when I flip on a light. 

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However, this configuration also means that the overhead fan in the dining area got turned off.  Because it’s a “smart machine”, it had forgotten which direction it was set for by the time I flipped the breaker back on.

Which led to this exchange between myself and the Other Half.

OH: “Turn the fan off so that you can set the direction.”

ME: “Why?”

OH: “So you can set the fan to rotate clockwise for winter.”

ME: “It’s already turning clockwise.”

OH: “No it isn’t. The fan always resets after a power outage.”

ME: “I know, but I’m looking at it right now, the fan is turning clockwise.”

OH: “No it isn’t.” (Turning the fan off and hitting the reverse button)

ME: “What direction is clockwise sweetie?”

Me Thinking this would be resolved when the other half re-evaluated that clockwise is something spinning from left to right. Instead, the other half points to fan and starts calling off 12, 3, 6, 9. Indicating a clockwise motion from left to right.

ME: “Sweetie, what direction are the fan blades turning?” Indicating the slowing fan blades of the now powered off fan

OH: “Clockwise”

ME: “So we didn’t need to reverse the fan.”

OH: “Yes we did.”

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ME: “Ok are you looking at the fan from the top or bottom?”

OH: “From the bottom.”

ME: “So we didn’t need to reverse the fan.”

OH: “Yes we did.”

I take off my watch, I hold it face down in front of the fan whose blades are now moving very slowly. 

ME: “Clockwise is the direction that the clock hands move right?”

OH: Gives me dirty look

ME: “Are the fan blades moving the same direction as the second hand of my very expensive swiss watch?”

OH: “Why are you being an ass?”

ME: “I’m honestly not trying to be an ass. I’m trying to make sure that we’re working from a common set of reference points so that when you tell me to make the fans in the house go Clockwise, I get it right. Alternatively, if I’m telling you how to tighten a screw if I say clockwise to tighten, you are successful. I’m actually trying to adapt my internal programming to accommodate your needs.” 

OH: Stomps out of house, “I’m going to the grocery store! Reverse the damn fan!”

Trying to put this to bed I go down to the basement, get the ladder so I can get to the switches on the fans in the bedrooms and I reverse all the fans in the house.

Based on the data obtained in our conversation prior to the other half stomping out, I’ve set all the units spinning in a direction I call Counterclockwise.

One hour later… 

OH: “I told you to reverse the fans!”

ME: “I did.”

OH: “No you didn’t, they’re spinning clockwise!”

ME: Facepalm

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Merry Christmas

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Hard to believe that it’s that time of year again.

Yet here I sit with a Christmas tree and gifts to be opened.

I hope you and yours are enjoying the season.

Be safe, stay warm and don’t eat too much.