Home Fires Burn

posted by Jaitu at 18:23

As British Summertime came to an end, the temperature became a little colder than it already was and we struggled to decide whether a British Summer really even begins anymore a colleague in San Diego sent this email.

Fires are still burning in some areas, but the worst seems to be over. Usual organizational fiasco and consequential dick measuring contest, but I suppose without knowing all the facts its difficult to comment. All I know is the political posturing started on day one with one senator promising to send "his" birds (C130 fire tankers) to San Diego to put out the flames, but of course these planes never arrived. Not much fun if you see your house going up in flame on the TV.
The fires actually passed by us both North and South by about 5-10 miles, although with wind gusts of 60 mph+ that was little comfort. We weren't evacuated, but 500,000 were as the authorities didn't want this to turn in to another Katrina. A few stayed and perished, but what can you do? The company closed for a few days but opened again on Wednesday, although at this time many were still evacuated. However, by Thursday things were getting back to normal and the decision had been made to turf out evacuees from Qualcom Stadium because there was football game scheduled for Sunday. After all you can't let a disaster get in the way of a few bucks can you?
There hasn't been much said about how the fires started, although one was attributed to a broken power line. That being said one nut was driving around in his truck, complete with fire fighter number plates and helping himself to fire hoses, so who knows. With a population of 3 million + you've got to wonder how many closet pyros are out there.
Interesting comment about the Greeks [mainland fires in the summer] and a boost to the real estate market was one of the things mentioned on yesterdays news as a "positive", but then that assumes you had your home insured which many didn't. I'm amazed that anyone who lives here and in a house worth >$500,000 doesn't have insurance, but it appears that the value of your house bears no relationship to your stupidity.

Poll To Pole

posted by Jaitu at 08:00

I like motor sport, I watch it, a lot.
Traditionally Formula One has always been considered the pinnacle of motor sport and in many respects it is. It is still arguably the most glamorous of categories but there are many others out there that can challenge it's individual attributes. It's difficult, for example to imagine a better fan experience in a major series than you'll get from NASCAR. Some of the best wheel to wheel action can be found in GP2 or A1GP. Champ Car is very reminiscent of Formula One 10 or 15 years ago. All that said, this year has been one of the most interesting in a long time and would have been even without the mess of off track intrigue and political power plays. Whoever you back in the championship and even if you don't normally follow the sport it's difficult not to have an opinion.
One of the best sources of information on the sport is Pitpass (you'll see it in our list of links to the right - unless I've changed the layout already). If you have any interest in Formula One, GP2 or A1GP then Pitpass is a site well worth checking out. They are currently running a survey to find out what we, the little people, feel about F1. Pitpass is read by some powerful people who will undoubtedly take note of the views expressed through the survey - even if they choose to ignore it. Follow this link to the PITPASS SURVEY and have your say.

Dog Tales

posted by Jaitu at 17:41

Some years ago there was minor scandal in The States when a university photoshopped a student of ethnic descent into a promotional group photo in order to show diversity and impartiality. Far more recently there has been scandal of an even more minor scale in the U.K. where some Minister for Health (or similar) was added to a group photo suggesting he was present at a function he had in fact missed.
This very morning the company I work for sent out the electronic copy of the corporate news letter. Somewhere near the back page was a story telling how a dog had survived being hit by a car on a highway in America and the efforts made by employees to support the non-profit organisation that has been taking care of it. The caption that went with the photo was "[dog] poses with [woman]". I've removed the names obviously but the important part is that the Dog was posing *with* the woman. Even taking into account the sad fact that the dog is currently awaiting surgery to amputate a damaged leg I suspect that there is a certain falsehood to this picture.
See if you can spot it.