Waiting on Daylight Savings Time

Daylight savings doesn’t happen for another week. I don’t know whether to be happy or upset about this. On one hand, it’s the official herald of winter and all that implies. On the other hand, it’s freaking dark when I get off of work and the cold gets worse. So, really, its a toss up.

Here’s the official news release from the National Post (from Canada, eh!):

Don’t set your clocks back an hour this weekend or you’ll have a lot of coworkers laughing at you on Monday morning. This year, Daylight Saving Time ends 2 a.m. the first Sunday in November, instead of the last Sunday in October.

For that, you can thank the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. To save energy, U.S. legislators set the stage then for 34 weeks of DST, beginning this year.
The savings “could be in the ballpark” of 1% of household consumption on a daily basis, said Rob Douglas, research officer at the time standards group of the National Research Council of Canada.

So it won’t be until next week that everyone rolls back the hands of time — everyone except Saskatchewan that is. The province stubbornly sticks with Central Standard Time, year round.

National Post

California Wildfires

My heart goes out to everyone in Southern California who have been affected by the wildfires raging this past week. I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that at least three of the fires were set by arsonists.

I have several friends who live in that area. All are fine since they were evacuated in time. Most still have their homes. Truthfully, I was sick with worry for those who were in harms way. Hugs to all my Disher buddies!

I’d also like to thank all the brave men and women who have fought the fires and those who offered their time and resources to help the evacuess. I don’t know what we would have done without the fireman/women and their support crews.

I’d especially like to say thank you to the firemen of the North State, who went down to Southern California to battle the blazes. You guys rock!

As of today, CNN Wire had this to say about the wildfires:

Stadium shelter for evacuees closes, death count rises as firefighters work to control remaining California blazes

SAN DIEGO (CNN) — As a sign of progress in the fight against the raging Southern California wildfires, San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium was to be emptied of evacuees Friday.

At the peak of the rampant fires, 11,000 evacuees were camped out there. Those who are left, about 750 Thursday night, have the option of transferring to the Del Mar Fairgrounds north of the city when the facility closes about midday.

Some 2,000 people and another 2,500 animals, including about 2,000 horses, have received shelter at the fairgrounds and racetrack.

The death toll increased Thursday when the charred bodies of four people, all believed to be illegal immigrants, were found in a canyon near Barrett Junction, about 33 miles east of San Diego, a U.S. Border Patrol agent said.

Fourteen of 23 fires have been fully contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blazes have burned 489,894 acres (765 square miles), and destroyed 1,635 homes. (Posted 11:04 a.m.)

I’m in shape, I swear

This is how I feel on most days:

Spider Cake!

Here’s the cake that I made for my son’s Cub Scout Pack meeting yesterday! Sorry about the horrible quality. I had to take the photo’s with my phone!

Once Upon A Time: A Wiki Novel

I’ve always wanted to write a novel. Creating characters, directing their lives, dreaming up new and interesting places for them to visit has always appealed to me.

However, I’ve always found it a daunting task. It is a lot of work to write a novel. I have every bit of respect for authors who can put stories together (and do it well).

But I still want to write a novel. Just not by myself. So I thought it might be fun to create (and cool to watch unfold) a wiki for a community written novel.

Anyone can sign up for the wiki and then add a word, sentence, page, graphic, etc. to the novel. I don’t care what your particular skills are. I firmly believe that each of us has a spark of creativity inside. Some just burn brighter than others. It’s still there, though.

Anyway, think of it as a great social experiment, if you will.

I invite you to come and get your creative juices flowing over at Once Upon a Time: A Wiki Novel. You’ll have fun. I promise.