Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Today at 1:32 pm: If A likes B but thinks C also likes B, does A and C then not get along?

Here's the aftermath of the fire. I say aftermath like it's over but it's still raging and could conceivably get worse I guess. I stopped paying attention to the updates after it dawned on me that we really can't do much anyway. After I confirmed with my mom that we had fire insurance, I mentally checked out. It got to be almost a game, seeing which houses were still standing, which probably weren't. It's much easier to make fun of disasters from afar isn't it?

At work, we're collecting canned goods for the people down in San Diego. One empathetic character quipped: "I'll collect the ash from my car and send it back to them." It was in jest, really.

I kept on thinking how rich Storm would be if she existed in the real world. She could charge bazillions to halt disasters like this. She'd vault instantaneously to the status of "most useful person on the planet." Al Gore would propose to her on the daily.

Anyway, everyone I directly know is okay. By "directly" I mean one degree away or people who are within our circle of friends. I'm sure most people are just relieved it's not their house up in smoke. There's quite a few second-degree people whose homes are possibly gone. Sorry guys.

Check out this lucky bastard. Hong, the luckiest man on Earth, lives on Valladares Drive, which had a whole bunch of homes burn down. We were checking his house address all day and his reverse lotto ticket never came up. James went for a photo drive-by and guess what? The Hotel Pan stands! In fact, it looks positively pristine compared to its neighbors. Three of the houses on his cul-de-sac burned straight to the ground. Like nothing left but charred remains. Hong's newly installed lawn is as green as St. Patty's Day and makes his house look like it's mocking his more unfortunate neighbors. Hong must have been Ghandi and Mother Theresa rolled into one in a previous life.