So we just got a disturbing alert from the city:
Longmont Fire, Police and Community Health and Resilience Longmont residents: if you received an evacuation order they are removing residents from west of 75th, east of Hwy 36, south of Hwy 66, and north of Neva Road.
We are fine – except for air quality, this is about a mile two miles, I just saw the map, outside of town on the west. But we do have an evacuation plan, including the ducks, if the air gets too bad. You can about chew the air right now.
Speaking of the ducks, my duck sitter is the best:
@cressiemae##ducktales ##duckfriends ##ducky ##duckcrossing ##animalsdoingthings♬ DuckTales Theme Song – Kids Pups Superstars & Various Artists
She’s a professional dancer, check out her other videos if you need some beauty today.
Open thread
zzyzx
I won’t say that King County (Seattle) is getting out the vote of anything but they’re doing extra drop box emptying runs.
https://twitter.com/kcelections/status/1317540785382850560?s=21
TaMara (HFG)
@zzyzx: Whoa!
zzyzx
@TaMara (HFG): my ballot arrived yesterday and I dropped it off that evening. My wife is slacking a bit but hers will be out by early next week.
thylacine
Can see the huge plume from South Boulder. The tankers that refuel at JeffCo airport are being re-routed from the Cameron Peak fire to this (the Cal Wood) fire.
jeffreyw
We had a red flag fire advisory today here in Southern Illinois due to high temps, low humidity, and gusty winds. It has been wet most of the summer but Sept and Oct have been very dry. If I wasn’t deaf I would hear the grass crunch underfoot.
Wag
That is a huge evacuation area. Stay safe and stay healthy.
we drove to the mountains today, and the smoke plume looking north was so sad to see.
laura
Please err on the side of caution TaMara. Take what you can and leave as soon as practical and feasible to save yourself and reduce road traffic in the hours to come
Yes- I’m fretting when it comes to fire.
Dahlia
@zzyzx: Nice! I just voted myself. It’s good to know that it will be collected and (I hope) counted promptly.
ewrunning
I see Trump’s threatening to leave the country if (when) he loses. Much as I’d love to see him in an orange jumpsuit, I would go along provided he surrenders everything he plundered first. I’m sure his buddy Vlad can spare him a dacha, preferably somewhere in Siberia.
TaMara (HFG)
@laura: I’m only worried about the smoke/ash here. I’m on the other side of town and there is a lot between me and this fire, including a river. But I have friends about 20 minutes northwest who are in “be prepared to flee” mode. I’m terribly worried about them.
debbie
@ewrunning:
No, I’m thinking it needs to be prison. He can’t tweet from there like he can from anywhere in the world.
FelonyGovt
Stay safe! I suppose this is the same huge fire that my friend in Loveland can see clearly from her house?
NotMax
Believe it or not – a duck snippet from that voluminous tome of info and miscellany published in 1811 (a book which I have mentioned previously).
:)
Kent
Here in Clark County WA I think it is a bit more sedate. I dropped mine and my daughters off yesterday evening in Camas and didn’t see any other cars. I dropped my wife’s off this morning at a different drop box at the Fishers Landing Park and Ride and there was one car in front of me, and then one pulled in behind me as I was leaving. Everyone was thumbs-upping.
Dahlia
@ewrunning: I’d prefer to see him living in a hut on Bouvet Island.
Croaker
Welcome to the PAShatShow
https://www.propublica.org/article/pennsylvanias-rejection-of-372-000-ballot-applications-bewilders-voters-and-strains-election-staff
Cheryl Rofer
Dahlia
@TaMara (HFG): Best wishes for your safety and that of your friends.
debbie
@laura:
Seconded. I’ve never been near one of these fires, but from the many witness accounts I’ve heard, those fuckers move fast.
MisterForkbeard
@laura: My uncle lives sort of near the fire zone, too. Crossing fingers everyone stays okay out there.
TaMara (HFG)
@Cheryl Rofer: That was an error and they rescinded it very quickly to the order I posted above
ETA: So quickly, in fact, I only received the corrected orders.
laura
@TaMara (HFG): I’m going to remain in defensive crouch and think good thoughts/fret on your behalf till tomorrow at the earliest. Wishing the best for you, your friends and all in harm’s way. Earlier’s better- just sayin’
laura
Roadie brother the younger’s property above Lake Oroville burned as fast as a football field a minute.
LuciaMia
@ewrunning: Yup, he said he’d have to leave the country. Not ‘want to’ or ‘decide’. No, ‘have to’.
Indictments like the Sword of Damocles.
TaMara (HFG)
@FelonyGovt: Actually this is a brand new fire, south of that one.
So basically, while safe here, we are surrounded by fire and it’s basically raining ash.
Tom Levenson
Stay safe.
JPL
@TaMara (HFG): Okay that does not sound good, but do you have a plan b?
Laura
Long-time lurker and Santa Rosan here, who too well knows the tension of staying alert for nights on end, and the hassles of bugging out. I’m sure you’re being completely practical…it’s good to have a clear plan with multiple exit routes and a meet-up spot if you’re taking separate cars. For folks who have time to spare, walk around your house and film it all, including opening drawers/cupboards/closets/shelves. Spares one a lot of insurance hassles. And do you know about making an air purifier by attaching a furnace filter to a box fan? Economical and effective. That air will be around for a while….do your best not to breathe it. Beasties, neither. Hoping all is resolved soonest and folks stay safe. I’m sorry you have to experience this.
Sebastian
I still cannot believe that nobody brought up the Simpsons in the Bears vs Libertarians thread
TaMara (HFG)
Here’s some wild video – it’s a fairly populated area with homes on large acreages and Jamestown (a small mountain town).
Sebastian
@LuciaMia:
Possible but to me that sounds more like how abusers talk.
TaMara (HFG)
This is what the sky looks like by my house right now. Fairgrounds is less than a mile from me.
TaMara (HFG)
@TaMara (HFG): The good news is, the winds are predicted to turn back on the fire in about an hour, so that should help. But so far at least 4 homes lost.
zhena gogolia
@TaMara (HFG):
I hope you stay safe.
JPL
@TaMara (HFG): How are the ducks faring
Cheryl Rofer
@TaMara (HFG): I know some people in that area and am keeping an eye on it.
TaMara (HFG)
@Cheryl Rofer: Hope they are safe! It whipped up so quickly…we were actually outside about the time it happened…we thought the wind had just shifted and we were driven back inside by a heavy cloud of smoke from the Cameron fire. Then the alert came through.
Bill Arnold
For those interesting in police misbehavior (or not, mostly, except for the saw. :-):
schrodingers_cat
Is Mabel double the size of the other two or is that an optical illusion.
Starfish
Here is the fire map for those of you following along.
I live just south of the evacuation warning area.
We packed a suitcase just in case and put some papers together, but the air quality seems better than yesterday where I am.
cain
@TaMara (HFG):
We can totally understand how you feel – considering that we had all that just about 4 weeks ago ourselves.
TaMara (HFG)
@schrodingers_cat: Penelope is the largest, Mabel a bit smaller and Maddie is tiny, but rules them all.
Cheryl Rofer
@Starfish: Thanks. The people I know are south of Boulder, but my gosh that is a big evacuation area, threatening even Boulder.
TaMara (HFG)
@Starfish: My vet and a client live just along the Nelson road evacuation area. Hoping the wind shifts and blows it back on itself like expected.
CaseyL
Oh, jeez, TaMara – I hope you and the critters stay safe.
So many parts of the country going up in smoke, it’s awful.
(Your duck sitter rocks!)
Punchy
Just got back from RMNP, and the enormous plume of smoke visible from Trail Ridge Rd was just stunning (in a bad way). The 80+ kph winds were insane and making it sooooo much worse….
Starfish
@TaMara (HFG): I read something that 900 people lived in the area that has been evacuated, and only four of them were having trouble finding a place to stay.
Two people that I know in localish Twitter have evacuated. One was in the mountains near Boulder. Another was in Lyons.
The animal stuff has been interesting, and I am glad that you have plans for all of yours. The Fairgrounds in Longmont are full with the horses that had to be evacuated. Someone was getting ready to evacuate, and a goat slammed their car door shut so someone was rushing out to help them unlock their car so they could evacuate.
Mary G FR=
Even the smoke and ash is traumatizing. There’s a reason that “I Can’t Breathe” slogan took on. Double because you just drove home from Nebraska with two giant puppers in tow. Hope you get the wind going the right way.
laura
dww44
@ewrunning: while I’m not naive enough to think he will actually pay for his crimes as he should, I want him to have to spend the rest of his days here and suffer the ignominy he so deserves. And without the ability to ever tweet again. We’ve earned this respite.
Starfish
@dww44: My spouse was talking this way this morning. I had very strong “Everyone can go to jail, and they can take John Yoo with them” feelings about the matter.
TaMara (HFG)
@Starfish: I’m going to check in with the Humane Society tomorrow (they organize the fairgrounds evac area) to see if they need donations – food or $$.
Joy in FL
I hope you will be safe. My good thoughts, also, for everyone in danger.
Betty
@Croaker: It isn’t as bad as it sounds. I am one of those who requested a mail – in ballot without realizing that when I applied in the primary for an electronic mail-in ballot, I was already on their list to get one for the general. My process went without a hitch.
CaseyL
I’ve received and filled out my ballot. My original plan was to take it personally to the Elections Division Office, but I may use a drop box after all, as King County seems to have ballot security absolutely in hand.
That would save me having to drive down to Renton Monday morning.
The Thin Black Duke
My beloved and I voted today. It felt great. Long lines, but we didn’t mind because it moved steadily. Folks were patient and they had a good attitude. Lots of cool t-shirts to look at (“Make America Smart Again”) In and out quickly, wore our “I Voted” stickers proudly. Today, Life Was Good.
Yutsano
Enemy of my enemy and all that but…
The Lincoln Project is gunning for Florida pretty hard. I’m ignoring the noise that wants us to be pessimistic here. Let’s vote. And let’s get everyone else to vote. We need to clean sweep everywhere.
@The Thin Black Duke: I’m smiling at this. I really hope things go well.
rikyrah
Please stay safe 🙏🙏🙏
dmsilev
Adventures in ‘We fucking told you this would happen’:
How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may have spread coronavirus across the Upper Midwest
It’s a long article, well worth reading, but will also make you want tp punch a hole in the nearest wall.
Sebastian
@dmsilev:
“Played a role” does a lot of heavy lifting here. I would like to know if the author has any other reasonable hypothesis as to the possible cause of a record spike in this region.
Sebastian
@TaMara (HFG):
Stay safe please. You are still needed.
Roger Moore
@debbie:
The most important thing to me is that there be some kind of trial where all the sordid facts about Trump can be brought before the public. I want there to be no excuse for the media to ignore how corrupt the Republican party is. That means putting everything out in the open, and a trial is the best way to do it.
dmsilev
@Sebastian: No, not really. They make the point that contact tracing is so incomplete that we’ll never really have a definitive answer, but that there are enough confirmed cases linked to Sturgis that it’s very likely a strong contribution to the outbreak in the upper Midwest. So, highly probable but not definitive.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@dmsilev: assuming you want all the people in red states like North Dakota and South Dakota to live full, happy lives.
I remember when one of the Dakotas absolutely banned abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. The Onion ran with the tagline: “We just wanted to see what would happen.” Since this was in the days before Amy Covid Barrett was on the Supreme Court, the appellate court overturned it and the Supremes didn’t take the case.
Just One More Canuck
@ewrunning: how about a yurt in mongolia?
dmsilev
@Roger Moore: The sad thing is we tried to do that with impeachment and the Republicans screamed partisan witch-hunt and the media went all both-sides-opinions-differ.
RaflW
@TaMara (HFG): FWIW, when I was in Summit County for 10 days at the end of Sept, into early Oct, the Williams Fork fire caused several days with AQIs hitting the 120s (about like Longmont now) I made a quick run to a big box homebuilder and bought a 20×20 Honeywell FPR 10 filter and used blue tape to attach it snugly to the intake side of a box fan, which I ran continuously on low inside the condo, for the week+ to remove at least some of the smoke particles. Fortunately it was cool enough to not need open windows (based on ‘normals’, it shoulda been cooler out, in fact!).
I already had the fan, so it was 15 bucks. Maybe it was mostly for peace of mind, but it is rated to remove ‘most smoke’, and 2.5micron particles, ie smoke, is the worst for one’s lungs.
Hope you all stay safe. Wishing for a variety of reasons that it’d start snowing out there where the fires are – we need the moisture bad!
mrmoshpotato
@zzyzx: Punch the fascists in the fucking face with your ballot at your drop off place!
Kay
@dmsilev:
It’s really surging in NW OH and into Michigan. They started cancelling high school athletic events this weekend. This will be the first wave here, since we didn’t really get one in March/April.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie:
@ewrunning: Yeah. It needs to be prison, if not hanging, after the American Nuremberg trials. Hitler and Himmler escaped justice. Dump and Dense (both Soviet shitpiles) shouldn’t get to do the same.
Achrachno
@dmsilev: Walls have a useful function. Punch a trumpist/neo-nazi instead.
dmsilev
@Kay: It seems like each region of the country gets to go through one or two big waves (so far). California got hit over the summer, but we recovered and now are mostly in a plateau with some ups and downs, but not the massive spike that is consuming the Midwest right now. And yes, we have our share of idiots, though nothing on the grand scale of Sturgis.
mrmoshpotato
@Sebastian: Haha. Let the bears pay the bear tax?
Bokonon
Hey Tamara – if things get rough in Boulder, remember you can come down here and stay with us here in Centennial. Drop me a line if you need to.
Kay
@dmsilev:
One thing having opened the schools does is make surges blindingly obvious, because the school systems report the students who test positive and that sets it off in parents, and it becomes all anyone talks about. You really can’t ignore it when you’re getting a text from the school saying they have four positives so they’re cancelling the football game.
PPCLI
@ewrunning: Maybe they will give him Kim Philby’s old dasha.
Roger Moore
@Kay:
I think the worst hit spots are getting bad enough that it will be basically impossible to ignore. The Dakotas are in the range of 0.1% of the population testing positive daily. That means within about one person in 150 will test positive within a week. Since it’s been going for a while, the total number of positives will be even higher. At that level, most people will know someone who is sick or recently was sick. People pay a lot more attention when it’s personal than when it’s abstract.
PPCLI
@Yutsano: They may need to update that ad. Not only did 21 Florida players get a positive test for Covid, but the coach Mullen just did too.
PsiFighter37
@Bill Arnold: Really funny until you realize that Japan is a ‘democracy’ that has endured one-party rule since McArthur decided he might become God while killing the Commies in the Korean War. The culture is admirable, but the politics are complete shit – they are ruled by old men who want to rewrite the history of WWII, and the young people there simply do not give a shit, I say this as someone with Japanese ancestry who has been back a few times before the current troubles.
Ken
You could have stopped there.
If only someone in charge had known back in March that school-age children and teens could contract the disease and spread it, and had acted on it. Or even told it to a journalist who was recording the conversation and immediately reported the information in one of the nation’s most prominent newspapers.
opiejeanne
@Ken: But how could everyone who has lived with children not know? Children are disease vectors, and really an efficient way of spreading it.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: As the nurse in the family says about her niece and nephew, “I love my little disease vectors”.
Jay
Jay
She’s even more horrible than expected.
cain
@PsiFighter37:
I remember that the (now) old politicians didn’t like the somewhat reverence to the U.S. that the older generations had of the U.S.
The Japanese are a proud people with admirable traits – they have a lot that they should be proud of – but they should embrace the not so nice things about themselves. As should we. Cuz I know plenty of things to be proud of – but we can always do better.
Yutsano
In sportsball news: GO RAYS!!!
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Dahlia:
I read that as “I just voted for myself” and was about to be super pissed off that even among the jackals there are self-regarding, ostrich-headed dipshits dumb enough not to understand that a vote for a third-party or write-in candidate is a vote for the Pusillanimous Pamplemousse and JFC why are people so stupid and … uh … never mind.
Go you!
Jay
Sab
@Jay: How weird is it to be a Canadian watching Americans behaving badly? I know historically this has always happened. But we have really outdone ourselves this time on the badness of our bad behavior.
NotMax
Right on, girl!
Dahlia
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: It didn’t even occur to me that it could be read that way. Sorry about the confusion.
Jay
@Sab:
there are a shit ton of people standing up for the right thing,
it’s usually bottom up.
Sar-Covid-19 has turned what were cracks in our societies, into gaping maws.
Trudeau, of all people, has started talking about UBI.
Patricia Kayden
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I wonder if Lorne MIchaels ever asked a second person if they thought Jim Carrey’s Biden impression was funny.
smike
@PPCLI:
I think there’s a WikiLeaks hook-up vibe to all of this, too.
smike
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think that helps…
Jay
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Dahlia: No no no! I was mocking my own faltering eyesight/comprehension. You were perfectly clear.
AnotherBruce
@Roger Moore: Wasn’t he responsible for an extra judicial execution of a man who he labeled as “Antifa”. How is that not murder?