Horror!

I did something I rarely do these days.  I bought a steak for dinner.  I was cooking the steak in the oven under the broiler, and I was checking the steak.  I have a built in oven, and left the door open as I was checking the steak.

Horror of horrors!  Haiku jumped on the oven door.  I yelled and she got off right away, but ran around the house. I could not tell if she was scared of me, scared from the heat, or hurt.  I grabbed her up, and checked her feet, but could not tell anything. I crated her up and called the Small Animal Emergency Clinic and told them what happened and I was going in.  Haiku cried in the crate all the way over, and they started tending to her as soon as I got there.  The vet said she could not tell about her pads, but gave her a couple of shots: and antibiotic and a steroid.  She mentioned icing down the pods, but thought it would be too traumatic on Haiku, if she did not seem to be in pain. 

I looked at her feet after we got home, and one had some pink spots on the pad.  She is not walking gingerly, she is not crying as if in pain, and there was no singed hair on her feet.  The vet said to keep her quiet the next couple of days, and gave me a copy of her records in case we need to go to our vet. 

I am sick about my carelessness.  I also was not in the mood for steak when I got home.  I was really scared, too.  It is just horrible.   I hope Haiku will be okay.

Sully - The Movie

I went to see the movie Sully http://www.sully-movie.com/#home today. It is a story many if not most of us will remember:  A US Air plane from La Guardia Airport http://laguardiaairport.com/ is disabled by birds shortly after take off, and lands in the Hudson River. All 155 aboard, passengers and crew, were saved with serious injuries and hypothermia to just a few, even though this occurred in January 2009.

The movie focuses on the PTSD reaction of the pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger who has nightmares about crashing the plane into buildings in New York City.  He and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles, who is similarly affected, by his reports, are questioned by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) http://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/default.aspx about their decisions.  It turns out the computer simulations indicated they could have safely return to La Guardia airport, or gone on to the Teterboro Airport http://www.teterboro-online.com/airport/. The suspense in the movie is about the conflict between the NTSB and the pilot and co-pilot. 

I cried during most of the movie. Sad, happy, relieved, honored, grateful.

This is a good movie to see. And teaches us a lesson about human beings. 

Sensitivity

I want something to eat.  That was the title of a post I made on May 8, 2015.  As I went back and looked at it, I realized how insensitive that was.  It was about a cat, a beloved pet to be sure, but a very spoiled, sick cat who is very sure she can ask for choices in food until she gets what she wants.  She does not go hungry, unless I cannot figure out her choices.  Or unless the infection in her mouth becomes bad enough that she no longer eats, and we have to go to the veterinarian to get another injection, and then she starts eating again.

Today, as I was hearing about the devastation in Nepal from the earthquakes, aftershocks, and aftermath http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/13/asia/nepal-second-earthquake-ripley/index.html, I realized that my post about Sake and her eating problems was very insensitive.  There are people in Nepal who do not have food, who do not know where their next meal will come from, and do not have a safe place to stay for the night or the next day.

I cannot imagine this fragility in lifestyle.  It is beyond me.  I have made a donation to the Breedlove Dehydration Plant http://www.breedlove.org/ in support of their efforts to provide food for people in Nepal.

I hope you do something to help the people in Nepal, too.

Flooding in th Semi Desert?

Every time I hear about flash flood warnings http://www.kcbd.com/story/28975489/extensive-flooding-reported-across-south-plains from the National Weather Service http://www.weather.gov/  for Lubbock or the surrounding areas, I am amazed. But, it makes sense on a different level.  http://www.kcbd.com/story/28979787/traffic-alert-road-closures-detours-across-south-plains

This is a semi-arid area of the world, and the city planners have not planned and never do plan even in this modern age, for torrential rains that overwhelm the "drainage" system in Lubbock.  There is not a drainage system in Lubbock.  There are a very few underground "drains." There are some pump/drains in the south central part of the city, that were developed after some catastrophic flooding. I cannot find the reference on line. 

For my money, Lubbock has no drainage system, and no flood prevention program. And, although this seems not to be an issue, I think it is. When it floods in Lubbock it is catastrophic. It may dissipate quickly, but for those affected, it is a major problem: It may be a matter of being stranded on road, or having your house flooded, but it is a problem.  And for main stream Lubbock, this does not seem to be an issue.

Compassion Fatigue

I am watching The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/ coverage of the Oklahoma tornado outbreak.  It is horrible  Tonight, though, I am wondering about the broadcaster, Jim Cantore.  He has been to so many disasters in the last few years, and I wonder what kind of toll this takes on him.  He must be suffering compasson fatigue to some extent.

I am not being critical of him. I am just wondering how much he can take.  I hope he takes care of himself, and that The Weather Channel helps him with debriefing and counseling if he needs it.

Prayers to West, Texas

On April 17, 2013, there was an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/key-facts-plant-explosion-west-texas-18990641.  The authorities treated it as a crime scene, and are slowly opening up zones to allow residents back into their homes. They are not saying it is a crime.  They are using crime scene techniques to help understand what happened, and to protect the citizens of the community.

West http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgw06 is a small town, about 17 miles north of Waco, off of I-35. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West,_Texas.

This was a horrific tragedy, flattening a large section of the town, costing lives, causing injuries, and disrupting the town. 

There are no words to describe the sadness this event causes me.  This last week has been a week of sadness in the news. 

Prayers go out to West, Texas and those who have been affected by this tragedy. 

Many who lost their lives were First Responders.  This makes sense:  they had responded to the fire that lead to the explosion.

Once again, thank you to all First Responders.  Many of your days are quiet, but you never know when you will be in a situation in which you are putting your life on the line.

Consoler in Chief

I suspect that when someone runs for the Presidency of the United States of America, the role of Consoler in Chief is not the role to which they aspire. 

Yet, it is an important role that the Commander in Chief takes on.  During President Obama's terms in office, he has had to take that role many times.  In the last 12 months, alone, he has had to console victims of Superstorm Sandy, the shooting victims at Sandy Hook, the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, and the victims of the fertilizer plant fire and explosion in West, Texas. And these are just a few of the incidents that have resulted in President Obama becoming Consoler in Chief.

Over the years, the various presidents have brought their own style and ability to this role. President Obama certainly is very capable.  In my opinion, President Clinton and President Reagan were very well spoken in this role. 

Consoler in Chief is not a role that everyone can do comfortably.  It takes a certain sense of self to be able to connect with others who are in pain.  Consoler in Chief can help the country to heal, to retain its spirit and sense of pride in its country.  It seems to be happening with President Obama.

My Heart is Heavy

My heart is heavy.  I grew up in Western Massachusetts, and only own Boston in a peripheral sort of way, but I own its sports, legend, and history deep in my heart.  The Boston Marathon http://www.baa.org/ is an icon in the world of sports. My heart is heavy at the terrorism attack that occurred at the finish line of the race on 4-15-13.

I am not sure what news source to site regarding what happened at the 2013 Boston Marathon, so I will go with The Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/16/some-areas-downtown-boston-reopen-today-boston-marathon-bombing-investigation-continues/qTROe6L0b98qRl9W7dnWiJ/story.html. 

I was at work when I Iearned of the bombings.  One of the security officers told me about it.  As I moved about the building, the staff were able to keep me posted of the latest results.  As I finished my patient rounds, I made my way to my office and turned on the radio.  When I do office work, I do not usually listen to the radio, but for this, I did.  Many of my coworkers, Monday and Tuesday, recalling my Massachusetts roots, expressed condolences, and asked about my family.  I think they really "got it" that the bombing was to be mourned, for its heinousness.

Monday, I went home after work, and after tending to chores, spent an evening watching the news. I was horrified, sickened, mortified, and hopeful.

The hopeful part of me was because of the stories of people who helped, runners who went to donate blood, restaurants that fed people for free, the many people who offered to help, to open their homes to people who were stranded.

Boston is a sports town. Monday was Patriot's Day, and part of the traditional celebration, in addition to the Boston Marathon, is the Red Sox home game at Fenway Park, early in the day.  So, it was finished by the time the bombs went off. The Red Sox were on the bus on the way to the airport before things shut down.  http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130416&content_id=44976856&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos.  At their Tuesday game, they recognized the tragedy.

The Boston Bruins http://bruins.nhl.com/ Monday night home game was postponed, the Celtics http://www.nba.com/celtics/?SR=SearchNBA_GXUS__NBA.com_Boston_Celtics home game on Tuesday was postponed http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2013/04/15/security-at-sports-venues-after-boston-blast/2085755/

Tuesday, many baseball teams offered a solidarity tribute to Boston by playing "Sweet Caroline" the Fenway Park "anthem."  This includes the New York Yankees ttp://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26326395&topic_id=8878548&c_id=nyy. Neil Diamond responded with acknowledgements:  https://twitter.com/NeilDiamond. 

Tuesday, there was a vigil on the Boston Common. Three people were killed, hundreds were injured. They were recognized at the vigil. 

So, I have focused on the sports aspect of this tragedy.  It is a defense.  And because the tragedy occurred at a sports event, and little else was known.

April 15th is celebrated as Patriot's Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots'_Day.  There are some thoughts that the bombings were making a statement about Patriot's Day.  But, as far as I have heard tonight, no one has come forward to claim this.

I cannot imagine the devastation and destruction caused by these bombings.  President Obama addressed this and the resources devoted to try to find the answers about these bombings http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57579706/obama-on-boston-bombings-we-will-find-out-who-did-this/

The  devastation and destruction is the kind that occurs at war.  Is the United States at war?  We have troops throughout the world, and many are engaged in combat of some sort. But no warring faction has claimed responsibility for these bombings.

I do not know what to think about the perpetrators of this attack. I have to wonder why, and what statement they wanted to make. I have to wonder if they were trying to save someone, including themselves. But, it seems, more likely, they were protesting something, but have not enunciated their cause.

What human tragedy this is.  It is senseless and useless.  What ever it was intended to do, it unified and solidified the community spirit of Boston.

Uh Oh! I Did It!

When I arrived home tonight, I entered the house from the garage. The door between the house and the garage is on the west end of the house.  As I entered in, I heard a noise, emanating from the east end of the house, and Taki came racing around the corner, and stopped with that look in her eyes that said "Uh Oh, I did it."  I did a quick walk through of the house, and this initial check did not reveal anything.

So, I followed my usual routine that included feeding cats, taking out trash, reading the mail and changing into comfortable and warm clothes. It was when I went sat at the computer that I saw what had happened.  The keyboard for the desktop was knocked to the floor.  And, the monitor for the desktop, which is positioned behind the laptop, was leaning forward, on the laptop! Had the monitor spilled forward, there could have been some serious damage to the laptop!

Taki is a slow learner. I do hope that she has learned her lesson, and whatever she did, she does not repeat it.

Disaster

Hurricane Sandy blew through the northeast last weekend and Monday. The aftermath is horrific.  The disaster is wide spread, the recovery slow and frustrating.  There is a lot of criticism at the delays in the recovery  effort.  But the reality is, no matter how much pre-positioned help there is, no matter how much help is imported after the storm, no matter how much money is pumped into the rescue effort, a disaster this wide spread, with this magnitude of destruction, is going to require a long time for recovery.

We are a society of quick fixes. We expect that. And, when it is possible, that is good. But it is not always possible.

If I were a survivor of Hurricane Sandy, I would want my life normalized as soon as it could be. I would have little patience for delays in help, insurance assessment and payment, government and public services being restored. 

But only so much can be done safely in a short period of time.  It just takes time.

Weather Stories

As I have mentioned, I spent a great deal of time watching The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/ this past week.  I would not say that The Weather Channel is my new best friend, but maybe I resumed relationship:  When there are serious weather events, I spend a lot of time watching The Weather Channel.  I check in with The Weather Channel almost every morning, and frequently get my news flashes from The Weather Channel. 

I do not think that their weather reporting is better than any other service. But they do continuous coverage during a serious weather event,  and sometimes, that is what I want. (When CNN  http://www.cnn.com/first started, they did continuous coverage of the news, and I liked that, too. They still do some for breaking news coverage, but not like they did.)  I do not watch much of the other programming on The Weather Channel.  Most of it does not appeal to me. 

I was impressed, during the coverage of Isaac, about a comment one of the broadcasters made:  Paraphrasing, the gist of his comment was New Orleans is low lying country, the storm was going to produce a lot of wind and rain, and no matter what precautions and preparations were made, there WOULD be flooding. Well, duh! Finally someone on The Weather Channel was honest and real.  A lot better reporting than sometimes in the past:

I do not recall anyone reporting, before it happened, that they foresaw the danger of the levee breech in Katrina in 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina. There were plenty of people, after the fact, who talked about having forecast or predicted such a disaster. Maybe they did, maybe they did not. No matter. It happened. I have the sense people let their guard down, since the storm had passed, and this added to the problems.

In my opinion, in 2008, The Weather Channel downplayed the seriousness of Ike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ike, which was "just" a category 2 hurricane.  But forces converged and Ike literally destroyed parts of Galveston. Storm surge, tides, wind and rains again compiled a devastating force. 

In 2011, Hurricane Irene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene was followed as it churned up the Atlantic Coast.  The coverage was good.  However, at one point, it highlighted on battening down and preparing New York City.  When the impact on New York City was nominal (no flooded subway system, Manhattan was not flooded) it was if the broadcasters took a collective sigh of relief and disappointment (no major catastrophe to report).  It seemed to me that they then under-reported the impact as Irene continued on into New England and Canada, until the horrific impact became known, and provided headlines again.

I understand that The Weather Channel is not just providing a service reporting the weather. They are looking for headlines to increase their viewership in a very competitive media market. So the disasters are the stories they want to report.  The reporters seem to really get excited about being able to report weather stories that include danger and disaster.  The reporters seem to express concern for the survivors and victims of these storms, but they also seem to be pumped about reporting the serious conditions, and indeed are looking for that to report.

Reporting possible weather disasters has to take a fine edge:  Certainly people need to be warned. However, if watches and warnings are frivolous or continually inaccurate and problem situations do not materialize, people will stop taking the warnings seriously, and eventually ignore them.  Calling for evacuations is a drastic step to take; yet, ignoring these evacuations orders repeatedly proves that people end up in harm's way, and emergency responders then put themselves in harm's way to rescue those who ignored evacuations orders.  Evacuations are costly to individuals and communities, and some people may feel they do not have the resources. And, many people feel it just can not happen to them, be it a tornado, earthquake, flood, hurricane or snowstorm. 

In my mind, the most responsible tact to take is a factual reporting of the weather conditions, and reminding people that they can not prevent weather. Their preparations should be to protect and take care of themselves, what ever that involves. And, no matter how good weather predictors try to be, they are not perfect, and unexpected weather conditions can occur with no warning.  Weather just happens.

Mandatory Evacuation

I have spent a large part of my vacation watching The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/ broadcast of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac.  I know that there have been areas of mandatory evacuations, yet some people did not evacuate, especially in Plaquemines Parish. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/plaquemines-parish-long-history-disasters-17109583.  And, a nursing home did not evacuate.  What does a mandatory evacuation order mean?  Get out. 

I get it. I do not want anyone telling me to leave my home to the ravages of nature and hoodlums.  I want to think I can cope no matter what. I can imagine a couple of scenarios in Lubbock, Texas that would require an emergency evacuation.  I can imagine my initial instinct to want to stay, and try to take care of my home. But the truth is, sometimes, I am not as self-sufficient and powerful as I want to be.  And I need someone with more information, power, and authority to take care of me.

I understand that the logistics of evacuating nursing home patients is difficult, but it is a lot easier if it does not have to occur when the storm requiring it is putting its full force energy into the area. I think the administrators of any nursing home in Plaquemines Parish that did not evacuate when mandated, and had to be evacuated in the midst of the storm, should be investigated.

My hope is that everyone who did not comply with the mandatory evacuation order is now safe.  More importantly, my hope is that everyone who tried to rescue those non-compliants is also now safe. The rescuers are true heroes and to them, I offer my thanks and prayers.

Evacuation!

I am watching the Weather Channel airing a story about people caught in a flood, who did not evacuate when told to do so.  I understand this.  I think my tendency would be to want to stay in my home with my creatures.

But, I see this, over and over. People do not evacuate, then the situation becomes critical, and these same people call emergency services to be rescued. Their expectation is that emergency services workers will put themselves in peril for their poor judgement.  I have to wonder how I would behave in such a situation. I do not know.

Irene, the Hurricane

I spent a lot of time watching The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/ this past weekend. A major hurricane, Irene, went up the East Coast and into the Northeast.

I was impressed at all the precautions that the various government entities took.  Much of it was centered around New York City, but of course, that is where the population concentration is.  But every area hit by Irene had ample warning that this was a serious storm, and precautions needed to be taken.

After the hurricane became a tropical storm and the event seemed anti-climactic, the government entities emphasized the need to be cautious about flooding and power outages.  Whether or not that was heeded, who knows. 

The precautions that could be taken, were, I believe. I am not sure how anyone could have prepared for the flooding and damage from the flooding in the mountainous areas, except for maybe some sandbagging and evacuations. 

The federal government jumped on the need to establish emergency recovery services. I am impressed by that.

I do not think that there was any overkill in the preparation phase of this natural disaster event. And, I see the emergency management agencies working to do what they need to, to help the victims of this storm.