Rachel Manija Brown's Blog, page 33
March 6, 2023
No Rest for Biggles, by W. E. Johns
Biggles is sent to investigate the mysterious disappearance of planes flying over Africa and carrying political VIPs. Naturally, he decides that the best way to do this is to fly one himself while pretending a VIP is onboard, with a second plane in radio contact. Within short order, the entire crew is stranded in a jungle in Liberia with two competing groups, one hoping to set up an independent kingdom, and one a group of criminals including von Stalhein.
This was not a favorite of mine but it did have some good bits. Highlights as far as I was concerned:
Bertie gets a fever from infected cuts and has to be hauled around the jungle.
Biggles is absolutely exhausted and going on willpower alone for most of the book.
Biggles spots a sentry who's carelessly left his rifle leaning against a wire fence. In a "whimsical moment" he steals and then ditches it, thinking that'll teach him to be more alert. Later he sees other soldiers giving the sentry an extremely hard time and feels both justified and guilty.
Biggles rescues a wounded enemy and is pretty sympathetic to him in a "I warned you this was a bad idea" way.
Von Stalhein not only does not kill Biggles when he easily could have but suggests that they team up. Just temporarily and for his own convenience, you understand. He also actively saves Biggles' life, supposedly for his own material benefit but come on.
Lots of great animal action, including monkeys, hyenas, and lions.
However. It's a hard call but I would say that this book is even more racist than Biggles in Borneo and Biggles Flies South, my previous contenders for the title. Like those, it has some of the apparently standard bits of Johns cognitive dissonance where he sometimes gets anti-racist ideas and then fails to draw larger conclusions from them. In this book, Ginger sees a man carrying a spear through the jungle, thinks "savage tribesman," then corrects himself with the realization that there's a lot of dangerous wildlife about, any sensible person of any race would carry a weapon, and a spear is a completely reasonable weapon. Unfortunately the entire rest of the book is staggeringly racist.
So, since I don't recommend it on that basis, I have excerpted my favorite part to share. Click to enjoy Biggles swearing at a rhino.
( Read more... )
[image error] [image error]
comments
This was not a favorite of mine but it did have some good bits. Highlights as far as I was concerned:
Bertie gets a fever from infected cuts and has to be hauled around the jungle.
Biggles is absolutely exhausted and going on willpower alone for most of the book.
Biggles spots a sentry who's carelessly left his rifle leaning against a wire fence. In a "whimsical moment" he steals and then ditches it, thinking that'll teach him to be more alert. Later he sees other soldiers giving the sentry an extremely hard time and feels both justified and guilty.
Biggles rescues a wounded enemy and is pretty sympathetic to him in a "I warned you this was a bad idea" way.
Von Stalhein not only does not kill Biggles when he easily could have but suggests that they team up. Just temporarily and for his own convenience, you understand. He also actively saves Biggles' life, supposedly for his own material benefit but come on.
Lots of great animal action, including monkeys, hyenas, and lions.
However. It's a hard call but I would say that this book is even more racist than Biggles in Borneo and Biggles Flies South, my previous contenders for the title. Like those, it has some of the apparently standard bits of Johns cognitive dissonance where he sometimes gets anti-racist ideas and then fails to draw larger conclusions from them. In this book, Ginger sees a man carrying a spear through the jungle, thinks "savage tribesman," then corrects himself with the realization that there's a lot of dangerous wildlife about, any sensible person of any race would carry a weapon, and a spear is a completely reasonable weapon. Unfortunately the entire rest of the book is staggeringly racist.
So, since I don't recommend it on that basis, I have excerpted my favorite part to share. Click to enjoy Biggles swearing at a rhino.
( Read more... )
[image error] [image error]
comments
Chicken help?
Yet another post to boost - please help out. This one is about my chickens. Copied below.
https://www.facebook.com/rachel.m.brown.182/posts/pfbid02momNV9qsTi6e573q3JEZBPpFCsjMVLGziVdedtue9tN7P2wn5BVRwvpxNgm6wNEYl
I am a resident of Crestline, CA affected by the snow disaster. I need someone who lives off the mountain to temporarily take care of my six laying hens. I can take them to you, I can pay, and you can keep the eggs. Keeping them with your own flock is fine.
I can’t leave the mountain until I can find someone who can take my hens, as I am still in the process of getting a temporary coop/run I can set up with the friends I can stay with. I have no running water or reliable phone/internet and my house is surrounded by nine feet of snow, so I need to leave. Please message me if you can help. I can take the hens anywhere in San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, or other nearby counties. You must have a predator-proof run.
comments
https://www.facebook.com/rachel.m.brown.182/posts/pfbid02momNV9qsTi6e573q3JEZBPpFCsjMVLGziVdedtue9tN7P2wn5BVRwvpxNgm6wNEYl
I am a resident of Crestline, CA affected by the snow disaster. I need someone who lives off the mountain to temporarily take care of my six laying hens. I can take them to you, I can pay, and you can keep the eggs. Keeping them with your own flock is fine.
I can’t leave the mountain until I can find someone who can take my hens, as I am still in the process of getting a temporary coop/run I can set up with the friends I can stay with. I have no running water or reliable phone/internet and my house is surrounded by nine feet of snow, so I need to leave. Please message me if you can help. I can take the hens anywhere in San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, or other nearby counties. You must have a predator-proof run.
comments
March 5, 2023
Trapped on Mount Hood & Code 1244
In honor of the snowpocalypse, I listened to a podcast series, "Trapped on Mount Hood," which was so interesting that I read the book it was based on the same day. That was a mistake. (Because the book was bad, not because Iw as traumatized by snow.)
I had not previously heard of the Mount Hood incidents, which was one of the worst alpine disasters in US history. A group of students were taken hiking up Mount Hood students from a private high school is part of a mandatory wilderness program, got caught in a storm, and seven of them died. Two adults also died. I find this particularly awful because it was mandatory for the students, but the disaster happened because the teacher leading them made a series of absolutely terrible decisions.
There was a storm coming, which he knew about, but did not factor into his decision-making. They started too late to avoid at, continued hiking under poor weather conditions, were poorly equipped for getting caught in a storm, ends didn't turn back until long after it would have been prudent to do so. They had to dig into a cave, which wasn't big enough for all of them so they kept having to rotate who was inside and who was outside. Conditions got so bad that a hired guide finally decided to leave and go for help in a blizzard, and took the only student who was willing or strong enough to go with them. They made it out, but got so lost in the blizzard that they had a hard time figuring out where the cave was. Meanwhile the cave got completely buried in snow. By the time the cave was found, several days later only two of the people inside survived.
The behavior of the teacher leading them is a bit mysterious. The author of the book says that he made such bad decisions that he must have been hypothermic. However, the decision to start the hike late when he knew there was a storm coming happened before the hike began, so he couldn't have been hypothermic then. There's also the matter of not taking equipment that should have been taken under the circumstances – also a decision made long before the hike began. However, he previously did not have a pattern of doing reckless things, so it's not really clear why this particular height was different. In previous hikes, they turned back without reaching the summit two out of every three times.
Code 1244 is an incredibly frustrating book. The author interviewed literally everyone who would agree to talk to him who was involved in the incident, and he did get to speak to most of the people who were and who are willing to talk at all. (One of the main people involved, the girl who survived the case she hiked out, has never publicly spoken about it at all.) He had an incredible amount of access so you would think he could have used that to write an interesting book. He did not. It's emblematic that I still don't know what a code 1244 is.
I wishvhe had done an oral history of the event, because I bet that would have been fascinating. What he instead did, as far as I can tell, was to write down every single factual detail that everybody told him, but put in his own words rather than theirs. His own style is extremely dry. He occasionally mentions what people felt or thought, but not all that much. So it's a recital of incredibly minute details. This book has more citations than I think anything I have ever read. About every third sentence is footnoted. I applaud his integrity but it also means that about one third of the book consists of citations.
There are so many details that the overall story often gets lost. It was much harder to follow what was going on in his book then it was in the podcast. I got the book because I was curious to learn more details then the podcasts gave, but when I finished his book, I felt that I knew less, not more. In particular, it was very hard to tell what was going on with the rescue operation and whether or not it was mismanaged, and whether that made a difference. The author obviously felt that one person in particular was to blame for the cave not getting found sooner, but I'm not sure if that was correct.
Based on the podcast, it sounds like he thought that guy was responsible for the guide who hiked out not having been taken up in a helicopter soon enough to search. But in his book, I couldn't tell whether that was a problem or not, or who had made that decision. One thing I really wondered about was why no one ever asked the girl who had hiked out with the guide to go up in a helicopter and see if she could recognize something. It seems to me that two people following the same route might notice or remember different things, so why not ask her if they were going to ask him? This never comes up in either the podcast or the when they finally did let the guide search, it's possibly important because he led the helicopter to the wrong spot five times before he did finally get locate the right spot on his sixth a try. So there was a lot of time wasted searching in the wrong areas, even after he got involved.
It's a very sad story, and also a very interesting one if you're interested in survival and wilderness rescue. If you are, listen to the podcast.
Against the Odds podcast.
[image error] [image error]
comments
I had not previously heard of the Mount Hood incidents, which was one of the worst alpine disasters in US history. A group of students were taken hiking up Mount Hood students from a private high school is part of a mandatory wilderness program, got caught in a storm, and seven of them died. Two adults also died. I find this particularly awful because it was mandatory for the students, but the disaster happened because the teacher leading them made a series of absolutely terrible decisions.
There was a storm coming, which he knew about, but did not factor into his decision-making. They started too late to avoid at, continued hiking under poor weather conditions, were poorly equipped for getting caught in a storm, ends didn't turn back until long after it would have been prudent to do so. They had to dig into a cave, which wasn't big enough for all of them so they kept having to rotate who was inside and who was outside. Conditions got so bad that a hired guide finally decided to leave and go for help in a blizzard, and took the only student who was willing or strong enough to go with them. They made it out, but got so lost in the blizzard that they had a hard time figuring out where the cave was. Meanwhile the cave got completely buried in snow. By the time the cave was found, several days later only two of the people inside survived.
The behavior of the teacher leading them is a bit mysterious. The author of the book says that he made such bad decisions that he must have been hypothermic. However, the decision to start the hike late when he knew there was a storm coming happened before the hike began, so he couldn't have been hypothermic then. There's also the matter of not taking equipment that should have been taken under the circumstances – also a decision made long before the hike began. However, he previously did not have a pattern of doing reckless things, so it's not really clear why this particular height was different. In previous hikes, they turned back without reaching the summit two out of every three times.
Code 1244 is an incredibly frustrating book. The author interviewed literally everyone who would agree to talk to him who was involved in the incident, and he did get to speak to most of the people who were and who are willing to talk at all. (One of the main people involved, the girl who survived the case she hiked out, has never publicly spoken about it at all.) He had an incredible amount of access so you would think he could have used that to write an interesting book. He did not. It's emblematic that I still don't know what a code 1244 is.
I wishvhe had done an oral history of the event, because I bet that would have been fascinating. What he instead did, as far as I can tell, was to write down every single factual detail that everybody told him, but put in his own words rather than theirs. His own style is extremely dry. He occasionally mentions what people felt or thought, but not all that much. So it's a recital of incredibly minute details. This book has more citations than I think anything I have ever read. About every third sentence is footnoted. I applaud his integrity but it also means that about one third of the book consists of citations.
There are so many details that the overall story often gets lost. It was much harder to follow what was going on in his book then it was in the podcast. I got the book because I was curious to learn more details then the podcasts gave, but when I finished his book, I felt that I knew less, not more. In particular, it was very hard to tell what was going on with the rescue operation and whether or not it was mismanaged, and whether that made a difference. The author obviously felt that one person in particular was to blame for the cave not getting found sooner, but I'm not sure if that was correct.
Based on the podcast, it sounds like he thought that guy was responsible for the guide who hiked out not having been taken up in a helicopter soon enough to search. But in his book, I couldn't tell whether that was a problem or not, or who had made that decision. One thing I really wondered about was why no one ever asked the girl who had hiked out with the guide to go up in a helicopter and see if she could recognize something. It seems to me that two people following the same route might notice or remember different things, so why not ask her if they were going to ask him? This never comes up in either the podcast or the when they finally did let the guide search, it's possibly important because he led the helicopter to the wrong spot five times before he did finally get locate the right spot on his sixth a try. So there was a lot of time wasted searching in the wrong areas, even after he got involved.
It's a very sad story, and also a very interesting one if you're interested in survival and wilderness rescue. If you are, listen to the podcast.
Against the Odds podcast.
[image error] [image error]
comments
Hopefully viral post requesting help for Crestline
I have written a post which I have copied below. Feel free to link if you don't have Facebook. If you do have Facebook, please share it.
Facebook Post
Please share this widely! I’m a resident of Crestline, CA and a former disaster relief worker for the American Red Cross. This is the worst disaster response I’ve ever encountered. One week after an unprecedented snowstorm, we’re in dire straits and getting very little assistance.
Crestline and other areas affected by the San Bernardino snow disaster need help. We need a FEDERAL disaster declaration, door-to-door welfare checks for people trapped in their homes, door-to-door help shoveling paths out of the snow, removal of 10’ and higher ice berms trapping our cars, reimbursement for disaster-related expenses, and permission to return to our homes if we need to leave the mountain to get medical aid or supplies. Please contact President Biden, CA Governor Newsom, and San Bernardino elected officials to urge this help. You can just copy the requests in this paragraph, but read on if you want more details about what’s going on - and my own story.
We are used to snow here, and most residents are well-prepared for a typical snowstorm. Crestline normally gets six inches to two feet of snow. We got over nine feet of snow. Individual residents are not prepared for that, and we are overwhelmed.
Some people are literally trapped inside their homes by snow blocking their doors. Others can leave their homes but not their yards because the snow is over their heads. Many streets are not plowed, so no vehicles can drive. When streets are plowed, the snow is pushed to the sides and forms 10’ – 20’ walls of solid ice which block cars and driveways. The official statement of San Bernardino is that there will be no help breaking down the ice walls or shoveling paths to homes – they are only willing to plow the streets. These are not normal ice berms and individuals cannot break them down! We need help with this.
Many people are running out of food, as the only grocery in Crestline collapsed due to snow and the one in the next closest town partially collapsed. The only food distribution is at city centers, and it’s not in the same places every day. Many people cannot get past the ice walls or walk miles through snow up to their waist or over their head to get to the food. Because the food distribution points rotate rather than being in the same place consistently, people are struggling for hours through the snow only to find there is no food there that day. The sites are announced over the internet the day before, but many people have their internet cut off due to the storm and have no way of knowing where the food will be. We need consistent, daily food distribution sites. We also need door to door food distribution as many people can’t walk to the sites. Remember, our cars are trapped and we can’t drive!
Residents are allowed to drive down the mountain (if they’ve dug their cars out), but if we leave, we will not be allowed back up. No one is saying when we will be allowed back, but officials have hinted it will be at least a week and maybe a month or more. So anyone who drives down to get medical help or food is trapped away from their home with no idea of when they can return. Because of this, everyone is afraid to leave, so we have no way of replenishing our own supplies and no way of lightening the load in general by going to stay with friends. Residents need to be allowed back up the mountain!
Homes and businesses are collapsing from the weight of snow on the roof. We have ten times the amount of snow we normally get in some places, and we need help with it.
As gas vents are blocked by snow and gas pipes are breaking from the weight, a number of houses have exploded or burned down. I have yet to see any assistance shoveling out gas vents. Again, normally we could do this ourselves, but not when there’s nine feet of snow and ice!
Supposedly help is here. None of us have seen it. We’ve seen National Guard helicopters circling, but no boots on the ground. If ever there was a time for a large National Guard deployment, it’s now. The American Red Cross has opened a shelter, but it’s in Redland – off the mountain and 45 minutes away from anyone who actually needs help. We need the Red Cross on the mountain, where they’re actually needed.
We would love to help each other and are doing our best, but we literally can’t get to each other. We are overwhelmed and need help. I am especially worried about disabled, sick, and elderly people who live alone. What happens to them if they don’t have close neighbors who can check on them? We need door-to-door welfare checks.
Here's my own story. At the beginning of the storm, one of my water pipes burst. The water company contacted me and told me they were cutting off my water. I filled my bathtub and all containers. (I also keep emergency water.) They plowed my street just up to my water meter, turned off my water, and backed out rather than continuing to plow the street. That was a week ago and to date they have been the only official response of any kind I have seen on my street.
Soon after, my internet cable broke in the storm. My 4G and telephone service also went out. I live alone and at that point I had no way whatsoever to communicate with anyone. I am five feet tall and my house was surrounded by snow over my head. I dug my way out of the house in the hope of making phone calls asking for help from a neighbor’s house. Then I discovered that the ways out of my property were also blocked. My driveway was under nine feet of soft snow, and my staircase, which is wooden and very steep, was under five feet of soft snow. Both ended in ice walls about ten feet high. Either way out was extremely dangerous.
I was so desperate that I climbed and slid down the staircase, then climbed the ice wall. I found a neighbor with internet and phone service, and began making calls for help. I explained to everyone that I spoke to that I had no communication whatsoever at my house and no running water, and that leaving my house was extremely dangerous. I requested help shoveling the staircase and for my internet and/or phone to be fixed so I could at least call for help. (I couldn’t move in with the neighbors or go to a shelter as I have pets and farm animals I need to care for.)
The response I got was disheartening. My internet company, Spectrum, offered me a service appointment ten days in the future. The San Bernardino official helpline took my number, but I never heard back from them. The plumbers I contacted about repairing my pipe so I can get my water turned back on were sympathetic, but they all lived in San Bernardino and worked in Crestline, and were not allowed up the mountain. One of them said that he has snow cats and a full crew and asked to come up to help shovel people out, but was refused permission to go up the mountain.
My neighbors shoveled a path up my stairs so I could get in and out without risking my neck. I still have no running water and no idea when that can be fixed. My car in under ten feet of snow and blocked by a fifteen foot wall of solid ice, so I can’t leave. I still have no reliable internet or phone service at my house. I am posting this from a neighbor’s house.
Please repost this to spread the word of the desperate situation and shocking mismanagement of this disaster. Please contact President Biden to ask him to declare a FEDERAL disaster. Please contact Governor Gavin Newsom of CA and elected officials in San Bernardino to ask them to send actual help, not just empty promises and false claims.
Thank you.
Rachel Manija Brown, writing from Crestline, CA on March 5, 2023.
Feel free to copy or reprint this anywhere with attribution.
comments
Facebook Post
Please share this widely! I’m a resident of Crestline, CA and a former disaster relief worker for the American Red Cross. This is the worst disaster response I’ve ever encountered. One week after an unprecedented snowstorm, we’re in dire straits and getting very little assistance.
Crestline and other areas affected by the San Bernardino snow disaster need help. We need a FEDERAL disaster declaration, door-to-door welfare checks for people trapped in their homes, door-to-door help shoveling paths out of the snow, removal of 10’ and higher ice berms trapping our cars, reimbursement for disaster-related expenses, and permission to return to our homes if we need to leave the mountain to get medical aid or supplies. Please contact President Biden, CA Governor Newsom, and San Bernardino elected officials to urge this help. You can just copy the requests in this paragraph, but read on if you want more details about what’s going on - and my own story.
We are used to snow here, and most residents are well-prepared for a typical snowstorm. Crestline normally gets six inches to two feet of snow. We got over nine feet of snow. Individual residents are not prepared for that, and we are overwhelmed.
Some people are literally trapped inside their homes by snow blocking their doors. Others can leave their homes but not their yards because the snow is over their heads. Many streets are not plowed, so no vehicles can drive. When streets are plowed, the snow is pushed to the sides and forms 10’ – 20’ walls of solid ice which block cars and driveways. The official statement of San Bernardino is that there will be no help breaking down the ice walls or shoveling paths to homes – they are only willing to plow the streets. These are not normal ice berms and individuals cannot break them down! We need help with this.
Many people are running out of food, as the only grocery in Crestline collapsed due to snow and the one in the next closest town partially collapsed. The only food distribution is at city centers, and it’s not in the same places every day. Many people cannot get past the ice walls or walk miles through snow up to their waist or over their head to get to the food. Because the food distribution points rotate rather than being in the same place consistently, people are struggling for hours through the snow only to find there is no food there that day. The sites are announced over the internet the day before, but many people have their internet cut off due to the storm and have no way of knowing where the food will be. We need consistent, daily food distribution sites. We also need door to door food distribution as many people can’t walk to the sites. Remember, our cars are trapped and we can’t drive!
Residents are allowed to drive down the mountain (if they’ve dug their cars out), but if we leave, we will not be allowed back up. No one is saying when we will be allowed back, but officials have hinted it will be at least a week and maybe a month or more. So anyone who drives down to get medical help or food is trapped away from their home with no idea of when they can return. Because of this, everyone is afraid to leave, so we have no way of replenishing our own supplies and no way of lightening the load in general by going to stay with friends. Residents need to be allowed back up the mountain!
Homes and businesses are collapsing from the weight of snow on the roof. We have ten times the amount of snow we normally get in some places, and we need help with it.
As gas vents are blocked by snow and gas pipes are breaking from the weight, a number of houses have exploded or burned down. I have yet to see any assistance shoveling out gas vents. Again, normally we could do this ourselves, but not when there’s nine feet of snow and ice!
Supposedly help is here. None of us have seen it. We’ve seen National Guard helicopters circling, but no boots on the ground. If ever there was a time for a large National Guard deployment, it’s now. The American Red Cross has opened a shelter, but it’s in Redland – off the mountain and 45 minutes away from anyone who actually needs help. We need the Red Cross on the mountain, where they’re actually needed.
We would love to help each other and are doing our best, but we literally can’t get to each other. We are overwhelmed and need help. I am especially worried about disabled, sick, and elderly people who live alone. What happens to them if they don’t have close neighbors who can check on them? We need door-to-door welfare checks.
Here's my own story. At the beginning of the storm, one of my water pipes burst. The water company contacted me and told me they were cutting off my water. I filled my bathtub and all containers. (I also keep emergency water.) They plowed my street just up to my water meter, turned off my water, and backed out rather than continuing to plow the street. That was a week ago and to date they have been the only official response of any kind I have seen on my street.
Soon after, my internet cable broke in the storm. My 4G and telephone service also went out. I live alone and at that point I had no way whatsoever to communicate with anyone. I am five feet tall and my house was surrounded by snow over my head. I dug my way out of the house in the hope of making phone calls asking for help from a neighbor’s house. Then I discovered that the ways out of my property were also blocked. My driveway was under nine feet of soft snow, and my staircase, which is wooden and very steep, was under five feet of soft snow. Both ended in ice walls about ten feet high. Either way out was extremely dangerous.
I was so desperate that I climbed and slid down the staircase, then climbed the ice wall. I found a neighbor with internet and phone service, and began making calls for help. I explained to everyone that I spoke to that I had no communication whatsoever at my house and no running water, and that leaving my house was extremely dangerous. I requested help shoveling the staircase and for my internet and/or phone to be fixed so I could at least call for help. (I couldn’t move in with the neighbors or go to a shelter as I have pets and farm animals I need to care for.)
The response I got was disheartening. My internet company, Spectrum, offered me a service appointment ten days in the future. The San Bernardino official helpline took my number, but I never heard back from them. The plumbers I contacted about repairing my pipe so I can get my water turned back on were sympathetic, but they all lived in San Bernardino and worked in Crestline, and were not allowed up the mountain. One of them said that he has snow cats and a full crew and asked to come up to help shovel people out, but was refused permission to go up the mountain.
My neighbors shoveled a path up my stairs so I could get in and out without risking my neck. I still have no running water and no idea when that can be fixed. My car in under ten feet of snow and blocked by a fifteen foot wall of solid ice, so I can’t leave. I still have no reliable internet or phone service at my house. I am posting this from a neighbor’s house.
Please repost this to spread the word of the desperate situation and shocking mismanagement of this disaster. Please contact President Biden to ask him to declare a FEDERAL disaster. Please contact Governor Gavin Newsom of CA and elected officials in San Bernardino to ask them to send actual help, not just empty promises and false claims.
Thank you.
Rachel Manija Brown, writing from Crestline, CA on March 5, 2023.
Feel free to copy or reprint this anywhere with attribution.
comments
March 4, 2023
Update from the ice cube
My neighbors pitched in to shovel me a path down the staircase, so I am no longer trapped! They also let me use their shower and clothes washer, so I'm at their place right now, clean and eating a quesadilla, while my clothes get washed.
Other than that, the truly spectacular clusterfuck of a so-called disaster response continues. Everyone is still pretty trapped. Our cars are all buried and trapped behind 12 foot ice walls. The neighbors dug out part of mine and apparently the windshield broke under the weight of the snow.
I forgot to mention that a smallish tree snapped and fell on my shed. I think the shed is OK though. Hard to tell, it's largely buried.
If anyone leaves the mountain, they're not allowed back up. So everyone is trapped but unable to leave because they're afraid they'll be stuck elsewhere. They're saying people may not be allowed up for at least another week and possibly to the end of the month! So if I leave because I have no running water, I won't be able to get back home.
Internet and texting is very intermittent at home.
I spoke to ABC News over the phone. Hopefully I will get to show them my street.
comments
Other than that, the truly spectacular clusterfuck of a so-called disaster response continues. Everyone is still pretty trapped. Our cars are all buried and trapped behind 12 foot ice walls. The neighbors dug out part of mine and apparently the windshield broke under the weight of the snow.
I forgot to mention that a smallish tree snapped and fell on my shed. I think the shed is OK though. Hard to tell, it's largely buried.
If anyone leaves the mountain, they're not allowed back up. So everyone is trapped but unable to leave because they're afraid they'll be stuck elsewhere. They're saying people may not be allowed up for at least another week and possibly to the end of the month! So if I leave because I have no running water, I won't be able to get back home.
Internet and texting is very intermittent at home.
I spoke to ABC News over the phone. Hopefully I will get to show them my street.
comments
Far North, by Will Hobbs
Gabe Rogers is a 16-year-old Texan boy who goes to boarding school in Yellowknife, Canada, so he can be closer to his father, who works at an offshore or oil rig. At boarding school, he befriends Raymond Providence, a Dene boy from a tiny, remote village.
When Raymond decides to drop out and go home, along with his great uncle, Johnny Raven, who had been in a hospital in Yellowknife, the bush pilot offers to take Gabe along for some sightseeing. Things go wrong, mostly because the pilot exemplifies the saying "there are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots" and there are particularly no old stupid and careless pilots. Raymond, Johnny Raven, and Gabe end up alone in the absolute middle of nowhere, Northwest Territories, with winter about to come down like a hammer.
This is an extremely enjoyable and pretty epic wilderness survival story in which every possible wilderness survival incident happens, but in a plausible manner.
The most unexpected part for me was the prominence of Johnny Raven. I had assumed that he would die almost immediately, so the boys could do everything themselves, but that's not what happens. He's an elder and knows a whole lot about wilderness survival, because when he was young, he actually lived it. There is a significant language barrier between him and the boys, as Johnny Raven speaks very little English and Raymond speaks very little Slavey. But we do learn that while Johnny Raven preferred life as he knew it when he was younger, that life was neither easy nor perfect, and in fact his own father starved to death. So while he can help and provide to a large degree, that's no guarantee that any of them will make it out of the wilderness alive.
So there's three major stories going on in this book, though in plot terms, there's only one. There's the wilderness survival part. There's Johnny Raven's own story, in which he gets to have a last hurrah, bond with his nephew, and teach Raymond a lot of the old ways that Raymond never would have learned in the ordinary course of things. And there's the story of the friendship between Gabe and Raymond, which was real but somewhat superficial at the start, and ends up ride or die by the end of the book.
Surprisingly, my favorite character was Johnny Raven, and his story was actually my favorite part of the book. There's a scene in which, of all things, he teaches Raymond and Gabe how to hunt beaver, which was unexpectedly beautiful and moving. I didn't know when I started this book that he would be a character at all, and it turned out that in this book about two teenage boys lost in the wilderness, there's also this great story about an old man who gets an unexpected chance to do what he loves and pass on what's meaningful to him at the end of his life.
It was definitely an excellent book to read during the snowpocalypse. At least I haven't crawled across an ice bridge over a frigid river, fallen into freezing water fully clothed, almost starved to death, gotten chased by bears and wolverines, and almost gotten killed by a reckless pilot.
Thank you very much to![[personal profile]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1491408111i/22407843.png)
mildred_of_midgard
for recommending this book! Has anyone else read anything by Will Hobbs? Is there anything else you would recommend?
[image error] [image error]
comments
When Raymond decides to drop out and go home, along with his great uncle, Johnny Raven, who had been in a hospital in Yellowknife, the bush pilot offers to take Gabe along for some sightseeing. Things go wrong, mostly because the pilot exemplifies the saying "there are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots" and there are particularly no old stupid and careless pilots. Raymond, Johnny Raven, and Gabe end up alone in the absolute middle of nowhere, Northwest Territories, with winter about to come down like a hammer.
This is an extremely enjoyable and pretty epic wilderness survival story in which every possible wilderness survival incident happens, but in a plausible manner.
The most unexpected part for me was the prominence of Johnny Raven. I had assumed that he would die almost immediately, so the boys could do everything themselves, but that's not what happens. He's an elder and knows a whole lot about wilderness survival, because when he was young, he actually lived it. There is a significant language barrier between him and the boys, as Johnny Raven speaks very little English and Raymond speaks very little Slavey. But we do learn that while Johnny Raven preferred life as he knew it when he was younger, that life was neither easy nor perfect, and in fact his own father starved to death. So while he can help and provide to a large degree, that's no guarantee that any of them will make it out of the wilderness alive.
So there's three major stories going on in this book, though in plot terms, there's only one. There's the wilderness survival part. There's Johnny Raven's own story, in which he gets to have a last hurrah, bond with his nephew, and teach Raymond a lot of the old ways that Raymond never would have learned in the ordinary course of things. And there's the story of the friendship between Gabe and Raymond, which was real but somewhat superficial at the start, and ends up ride or die by the end of the book.
Surprisingly, my favorite character was Johnny Raven, and his story was actually my favorite part of the book. There's a scene in which, of all things, he teaches Raymond and Gabe how to hunt beaver, which was unexpectedly beautiful and moving. I didn't know when I started this book that he would be a character at all, and it turned out that in this book about two teenage boys lost in the wilderness, there's also this great story about an old man who gets an unexpected chance to do what he loves and pass on what's meaningful to him at the end of his life.
It was definitely an excellent book to read during the snowpocalypse. At least I haven't crawled across an ice bridge over a frigid river, fallen into freezing water fully clothed, almost starved to death, gotten chased by bears and wolverines, and almost gotten killed by a reckless pilot.
Thank you very much to
mildred_of_midgard
for recommending this book! Has anyone else read anything by Will Hobbs? Is there anything else you would recommend?[image error] [image error]
comments
March 3, 2023
I have internet!
My phone's 4G just came on, and I've created a mobile hotspot for my laptop. Pray it stays on. This has cheered me enormously, and is also a big safety improvement.
There are only two ways to leave my property and one is impossible (8' of snow at least covering g the driveway, ending in a 10' wall of solid ice) and the other is really dangerous (wooden stairway completely covered in up to 5' of very soft snow so you can't see where the steps are.) I've been climbing/struggling up and down the latter to get to my neighbor's place so I can use the phone/internet because otherwise I can't contact anyone to get help with anything like internet, water, shoveling, etc, but obviously it would be much better if I could just stay home and email/text for help.
(I tried making homemade snowshoes. Several times. None of them worked. All I can say is you should try it yourself in deep snow and see if you can do better.)
I haven't had a shower since the 27th and every time I go out, I get drenched to the skin and filthy. And my clothes are wet and dirty and I can't wash them.
The water company plowed my street SOLELY TO TURN OFF MY WATER. They plowed to my meter, turned off my water, and backed out rather than even finish plowing the street past my house!
That is typical of the disaster response effort. It's a disaster in and of itself. The gas company has sent at least four conflicting alerts saying that we should dig out our gas meters or our houses will explode, and that this is a myth and we don't need to.
The only supermarket in Crestline had its roof collapse, and the other nearest supermarket (in Blue Jay) just got red-tagged so no one can go in.
People are completely stuck in their houses with no food or medicine, roofs are collapsing across town, and everyone's left on their own to shovel themselves out. No one can help anyone else except to a very small degree because no one can get anywhere. We need the National Guard. Apparently one very small group got called out but no one's seen them.
I've been shoveling a ton and I'm sore and I want a goddamn hot shower.
I should have some help shoveling on Sunday and possibly a shower, if my friends across town can get their own street plowed.
comments
There are only two ways to leave my property and one is impossible (8' of snow at least covering g the driveway, ending in a 10' wall of solid ice) and the other is really dangerous (wooden stairway completely covered in up to 5' of very soft snow so you can't see where the steps are.) I've been climbing/struggling up and down the latter to get to my neighbor's place so I can use the phone/internet because otherwise I can't contact anyone to get help with anything like internet, water, shoveling, etc, but obviously it would be much better if I could just stay home and email/text for help.
(I tried making homemade snowshoes. Several times. None of them worked. All I can say is you should try it yourself in deep snow and see if you can do better.)
I haven't had a shower since the 27th and every time I go out, I get drenched to the skin and filthy. And my clothes are wet and dirty and I can't wash them.
The water company plowed my street SOLELY TO TURN OFF MY WATER. They plowed to my meter, turned off my water, and backed out rather than even finish plowing the street past my house!
That is typical of the disaster response effort. It's a disaster in and of itself. The gas company has sent at least four conflicting alerts saying that we should dig out our gas meters or our houses will explode, and that this is a myth and we don't need to.
The only supermarket in Crestline had its roof collapse, and the other nearest supermarket (in Blue Jay) just got red-tagged so no one can go in.
People are completely stuck in their houses with no food or medicine, roofs are collapsing across town, and everyone's left on their own to shovel themselves out. No one can help anyone else except to a very small degree because no one can get anywhere. We need the National Guard. Apparently one very small group got called out but no one's seen them.
I've been shoveling a ton and I'm sore and I want a goddamn hot shower.
I should have some help shoveling on Sunday and possibly a shower, if my friends across town can get their own street plowed.
comments
Biggles, Air Commodore
“It’s getting near octopus time.”
Several ships sink with all hands lost, in the same area, after sending out an SOS mentioning “bad whether.” Biggles finds this very fishy. But investigating it, let alone doing anything about it, requires a big combined operation, so he gets himself temporarily commissioned as an Air Commodore so he can command both ships and planes.
This book focuses on Biggles’s responsibility as a commander of a large operation rather than a small team. There are some real losses, and he takes the deaths of men under his command personally. After getting a deathbed report from a young sailor, he walks off to cry, then pulls himself together to figure out his next move.
Despite a serious theme, it’s overall a very fun book, with excellent and inventive action sequences, some terrific settings, and plenty of creatures. Ginger is chased by a crocodile again, Algy is attacked by ants, and a decapod decamps with a dinghy.
To swim for it with that ghastly creature about was unthinkable. He knew what it was, of course: either an octopus or a decapod, perhaps the most loathsome living thing in all creation.
I don’t think Johns ever encountered an actual octopus because I am pretty sure they cannot actually chase people over dry land. Or if they can, there’s no need to flee in terror as you can just walk away. But maybe that’s just octopuses, not the dreaded decapods!
A swift glace backward revealed both monsters not thirty yards behind, moving swiftly over the ground in a sort of rolling motion.
Decapods aside, the book has some lovely descriptive writing. Below, the islands of the Mergui Archipelago lay like a necklace of emeralds dropped carelessly on a turquoise robe.
There are some racist bits but they’re individual lines or scenes rather than pervasive.
( Read more... )
[image error] [image error]
comments
Several ships sink with all hands lost, in the same area, after sending out an SOS mentioning “bad whether.” Biggles finds this very fishy. But investigating it, let alone doing anything about it, requires a big combined operation, so he gets himself temporarily commissioned as an Air Commodore so he can command both ships and planes.
This book focuses on Biggles’s responsibility as a commander of a large operation rather than a small team. There are some real losses, and he takes the deaths of men under his command personally. After getting a deathbed report from a young sailor, he walks off to cry, then pulls himself together to figure out his next move.
Despite a serious theme, it’s overall a very fun book, with excellent and inventive action sequences, some terrific settings, and plenty of creatures. Ginger is chased by a crocodile again, Algy is attacked by ants, and a decapod decamps with a dinghy.
To swim for it with that ghastly creature about was unthinkable. He knew what it was, of course: either an octopus or a decapod, perhaps the most loathsome living thing in all creation.
I don’t think Johns ever encountered an actual octopus because I am pretty sure they cannot actually chase people over dry land. Or if they can, there’s no need to flee in terror as you can just walk away. But maybe that’s just octopuses, not the dreaded decapods!
A swift glace backward revealed both monsters not thirty yards behind, moving swiftly over the ground in a sort of rolling motion.
Decapods aside, the book has some lovely descriptive writing. Below, the islands of the Mergui Archipelago lay like a necklace of emeralds dropped carelessly on a turquoise robe.
There are some racist bits but they’re individual lines or scenes rather than pervasive.
( Read more... )
[image error] [image error]
comments
ARRRRGGGGHHHH
No running water, no phone, no internet, 8 feet of snow, car is buried. San Bernardino provided an emergency number which is busy and then hangs up on you. I informed Spectrum (my internet company) that my internet is down and my phone isn't working, so if there's an emergency I can't communicate with anyone. They told me the earliest anyone could look at it would be March 13.
I ran out of chicken food (no deliveries) so I'm feeding them peanut butter sandwiches and kitchen scraps. They're still laying!
I am not traumatized by fictional snow! Feel free to write me either snowy or non-snowy fic if you like.
I write book reviews in advance and dole them out, so I shall dole some. Feel free to comment, I will reply when I have internet.
comments
I ran out of chicken food (no deliveries) so I'm feeding them peanut butter sandwiches and kitchen scraps. They're still laying!
I am not traumatized by fictional snow! Feel free to write me either snowy or non-snowy fic if you like.
I write book reviews in advance and dole them out, so I shall dole some. Feel free to comment, I will reply when I have internet.
comments
March 2, 2023
This has hit It Can Only Happen To Rachel levels
I'm fine, cats are fine, chickens are fine. BUT we had 91 inches of snow. That's a little under 8 feet, or 2.31 meters. Crestline hasn't gotten this much snow in 50 years.
I am under 5-8 feet of snow. There is a wall of ice surrounding my place. A neighbor had to hack steps in it so I could climb down to the street to get to his place because...
...my phone and internet are both down. ONLY MINE. My cable snapped in the storm. Once I'm in the house, I can't communicate at all. I'm posting from the neighbor's place.
To get out of the house, I have to go through snow up to my waist. I have to climb along the staircase to get down to the street as the snow around my lot is higher than my head.
My car is completely buried in snow. There is a 12-foot berm of solid ice blocking it.
I still have no running water.
The chicken run door now won't close properly because it swelled or something, so it's tied shut.
The local supermarket and Ace Hardware both had their roofs collapse.
Please write me fanfic or amusing reviews or something, I will appreciate it when I get back online.
comments
I am under 5-8 feet of snow. There is a wall of ice surrounding my place. A neighbor had to hack steps in it so I could climb down to the street to get to his place because...
...my phone and internet are both down. ONLY MINE. My cable snapped in the storm. Once I'm in the house, I can't communicate at all. I'm posting from the neighbor's place.
To get out of the house, I have to go through snow up to my waist. I have to climb along the staircase to get down to the street as the snow around my lot is higher than my head.
My car is completely buried in snow. There is a 12-foot berm of solid ice blocking it.
I still have no running water.
The chicken run door now won't close properly because it swelled or something, so it's tied shut.
The local supermarket and Ace Hardware both had their roofs collapse.
Please write me fanfic or amusing reviews or something, I will appreciate it when I get back online.
comments
