October randoms

1. Where is the bloggy birthday list? Who posted it and when?

2. My new adventure is getting free Halloween candy. Staples had a free 2 lb bag of Hershey's miniatures with the purchase of an ink cartridge. Our printer ran out of black ink, so the timing was right. Smart and Final warehouse store offered a free bag of candy with a $25 purchase. I often shop there, to buy things for our temple (I'm the buyer) so I made two different $25 purchases and got two more bags of free candy.

3. Here's some great YouTube videos for our cat-loving bloggers:

Wake up cat cartoon:http://youtube.com/watch?v=GmwqpHsMExg

My cat won't wake up:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb77_8MPlU8

Fat cat trying to roll over:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhomzParUMY

Fat cat watching TV, sitting on the couch:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXkw3L7oxwk

Nothin's gonna wake me up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmd9BgoMvus&NR=1

Funny cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lblqxpJCi8&NR=1

4. A couple more fire pictures for those of you who don't go to OT:

Cleo, ready to evacuate

See the phone repairman in the tree?

Another burnt home with an intact washer and dryer in the garage

5. The TV news shows are now focusing on fire-resistant plants, fire-resistant home furnishings, health issues regarding breathing in the ashes and smoky air, consumer fraud regarding contractors and rebuilding, and charity scams regarding asking for donations to help victims.

6. They were trying to evacuate a nudist camp, but they refused to leave. Cracks me up. The letter we just received, soliciting pre-paid cremation (50% of Californians are doing it) also cracked me up. Bad timing.

Two Fiery Blog Posts in a Row

Whew! Another devastating weekend. There are fires in San Diego, Malibu, Castaic, Aqua Dulce, and Ventura County. The areas closest to me are about 10-15 miles away, both north and east. These areas are equestrian areas, so both animals and residents had to be evacuated. However, I saw on TV some horses who had been in a corral. The owners were told to let them run free; that there would be a natural leader who would lead them away from the fire. So I watched in astonishment as a group of about 30 horses were running uphill through the canyon, away from the fire.You've probably seen the fires, which have consumed thousands of acres, on TV or on the internet.

The castle in Malibu that burned down belonged to Lilly Lawrence. She is a philanthropist who supports many causes, hosts charitable functions and gives to various charities. Her father worked for the Shah of Iran and her godfather was Aristotle Onassis. All her invaluable collectibles and memorabilia are gone.

Here are some original Puffy photos:
This is a view from my house. I wanted to show the difference between the beautiful blue sky and the smoky sky.



This is a view from my front yard, facing the cul de sac in front of our home. We had wanted to go on a picnic today. No thanks, we didn't want an ash sandwich.


This is driving northbound, toward another fire. We had a coupon for Qdoba's Mexican food. What can I say? *grin* See the "Six Flags Magic Mountain" sign on the lower right of the picture?



This is facing eastbound, toward the fire to the east. I love the look of the heavy smoky cloud next to the bright blue sky.

After our Mexican lunch, and after clearing the ashes from the car window, we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for an ice cream. Nobody was sitting outside at the tables. Cough, cough, hack, hack. This picture is the sun in the smoky sky, from the shopping center where we had Cold Stone.

Oops, a downed tree, driving home. We saw several uprooted trees and branches strewn all over the place. It's very windy out here. Three things are prime for a fire: dryness, heat, and wind. We've got all three. Humidity is 17% right now.
Sunday night update:

The TV news is focusing on the fire which is about 8-10 miles from my house rather than the Malibu fire. Over 12,500 acres have burned, 25 structures have burned, there's 400 firefighters now, with 200 more expected in the morning. An important bridge has been destroyed, winds are expected to reach up to 80-90 mph so it may take 5 days to put a handle on it. And there's another fire raging now in Ontario, which is east of L.A.

Fiery Freeway Inferno

I needed to look up "fiery." Why is it "fire," but with the -ry, it's spelled "fiery?" Anywho, on to the story.





Who saw the news this weekend? Did you see or read about the crash on Interstate 5 in the Newhall Pass in Los Angeles? Did you see that the freeway was/is closed in both directions? Did you happen to notice which off-ramp the freeway was closed at? *waves*

Hey guys! MY off-ramp!

To fill in those of you who are "news-challenged," Friday night at 11 pm, 2 big rigs collided on a rain-slicked highway. It had only been raining for a couple of hours. They crashed in a 550-foot tunnel which goes under the I-5 freeway. This tunnel is the "truck route" so trucks aren't on the main highway for a small stretch of time, while merging onto other roads. This freeway is the main route from Northern to Southern California. After the initial crash, 5 more tractor-trailers burst into flames and the fire quickly spread. In total, 30 commercial vehicles, and 1 passenger car were involved. Three people died, including a little boy who was in one of the trucks. Ten people had minor to moderate injuries and 10 others escaped unharmed.

After doing the math quickly, me thinks that there are still some people missing.This accident had the potential for a much greater number of injuries and fatalities. A couple of the trucks were carrying cantaloupe and lettuce. We live so close to it, that I can't imagine why we didn't smell the burnt food.

This chain-reaction crash impacted the structural stability of the tunnel, so they closed the freeway overhead. Let's see, about 225,000 vehicles cross this road a day. Mr. Puffy makes 225, 001. So now, we have the I-5 shut down in both directions, snarling traffic on surrounding roads *mine!*, with drivers looking for alternate routes.

What an eerie feeling to look at the freeway and see nobody on it, going north, since my ramp is the cut-off point; and to see miles of bumper-to-bumper cars and trucks lined up to exit at my ramp and go on "The Old Road." That's right, the name of the alternate route, next to the freeway is "The Old Road."

I think it's a crime that the Highway Patrol didn't put up signs so people didn't enter the freeway, or advising people of the problem. This wasn't done until about 12 hours after the accident. By Saturday afternoon, the Highway Patrol made both the north and south bound lanes of "The Old Road" into south-bound-only. Another side road was made into north-bound- only. All our local streets are packed with cars looking for ways in and out of here.

Mr. Puffy is going to stay at home and work from home for a couple of days. Perhaps by then, they will shore up the tunnel, so traffic can drive on the freeway above it. I don't have to use that road until Wednesday, so we'll see what I'll do.

In other news, my favorite restaurant burned down last week. It is in Pasadena. It's called Burger Continental, but it has food from all over the world. We enjoy the Mediterranean Feast every time we go. Yum yum.

On the other hand...no, on the same hand of bad news, some cables and the transformer across the street from my house went out last night. Luckily, we still had power, but many of the neighboring streets were with no power for about 18 hours.

OK, now the smiley part: Here's a few jokes and riddles that I heard on Leno and Letterman recently:

Letterman was showing some ads from the newspaper:

FOUND KITTEN:

Answers to the name of GO AWAY

TRUCK FOR SALE

Round tires and see-through glass

Bob Barker was recently sued for the 7th time for sexual harassment. The dogs and cats are taking up a colleciton to neuter him.

You know that Keifer Sutherland was recently picked up for drunk driving? For the sobriety test, they made him count backwards from 24!

Halloween jokes:

What do ghosts put in their bra?

BOO-BIES!

Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

HE DIDN'T HAVE THE GUTS!

This 'n That

1. I just returned from a facial. I feel all fruity. "Henry" used raspberry, pumpkin, and blueberry products on my face. He wanted me to become a "member" of the spa, for only $1000 a year. He has 1000 members. THAT'S $1,000,000 A YEAR IN MEMBERSHIPS! He gets $1,000,000 without even providing one service or selling one product.
2. Remember the wine I spilled on my desk by knocking the glass over with my foot? Two times. So now Mr. Puffy brings the wine upstairs to set on my night stand. Last week, I knocked it over onto the carpet, pillow, and bedskirt. Last night, I spilled it on my chin and neck as I was sipping it in bed. He's going to buy me a sippy cup.
3. I'd like to congratulate the bloggers who are doing well on OT's trivia contest: Boo, Zombs, Meemo, Arkie, Cutsy, HD, and Luna. I'm usually one of the first couple of people to take the test. I take it around 11:00 pm, which is the following day's test. So I'm in the top 5 every day, for at least a few hours until everyone wakes up.
4. We got the floor tile grout cleaned. It looks much better, but not back to the original color. I'm glad we had it done, though.
5. Seinfeld was on "30 Rock." I cracked up when he mentioned a new summer replacement series, "MILF Island," starring 20 hot moms and 8 young boys. I had to explain MILF to Mr. Puffy.
6. "Pushing Daisies" is my new favorite TV show. It's a quirky, funny, drama, fairy-tale all rolled into one.
7. I saw two excellent movies in the past two weeks. "Across the Universe" is fantastic! We wanted to stay and watch it again. I loved that movie! "Into the Wild" was also engrossing and very well done. The scenery was amazing. Two thumbs up and 4 stars to each of them.
8. Leslie on Survivor lost 17 pounds in 9 days. Where's an application? How do I sign up?
9. My friend recommended me to Merv Griffin Productions for the new "Crosswords" TV game show. I went for the try-out. A group of about 40 of us had to take a very difficult test. It was next to impossible. Even with cheating a little, because my friend told me some of the answers from when she took the test, I didn't pass. Only 4 people from my group passed; 2 from her group passed. In my friend's group, the 2 who passed had both been on Jeopardy! The show began on the air the week after I tried out. It's boring and very hard. I can't get any of the answers when watching. The prizes are pretty lame and very cheap; like a trip to Vegas at an unknown hotel off the strip. Well, what do you know? Apparently nobody likes the show and they can't get any contestants because Merv Griffin Productions called me back. "Hello, Ms Puffy? You scored very high on our qualifying test. You came very close to passing, so we'd like to call you back to be on the show." No thanks.
10. Is this the number where I "smooch" everyone? A special smooch goes out to our newest blogger, "Cod."

TPIR, NYSI, LMAD, MG, AND WOF

I'm responding to Zombs' and Boo's clamoring for me to tell my story about being on The Price is Right.

1. The Price is Right

I was on The Price is Right *&^$% years ago. I was but a spring chicken. They really do pick you out of the line-up outside the studio. The producer has a quick chat with everyone in line. We flirted a little bit, talking about all the racy and double entrendre words involved in the fascinating world of speech therapy. This was way back in the old days when the game was only 1/2 hour long, with only 3 contestants. The two contestants who won the most were called back for the showcase.

I was the fourth person in the first round to be called. I "came on down" and guessed a price just a few dollars above the previous highest bid. Smart Puffy. I won a double-oven stove! We had just bought a new house with a new double-oven stove, so I didn't need it. I later sold it.

The on-stage game was one that did not become a regular game. It was really hard. I only won the consolation prizes. They were things like super seal, men's shoes, a year's supply of rice-a-roni, and playtex rubber kitchen gloves.

The contestant who won right after me also lost her game. Her consolation prizes in that game amounted to less money than mine, so I knew that I'd be in the showcase. The third contestant also lost her game.

Back in the dark ages, if you guessed within $100 or so, you did NOT get both showcases. I think they do that today. My guess was within $100, but I only won my showcase. It was a beautiful bedroom set which included the entire bed, frame, headboard, dresser, mirror, and armoire. I also won two bedspreads. The bedspread company sent me a packet of pictures so I could pick out my fabric. I asked for one bedspread and for matching fabric with which to make drapes. They were nice enough to send that to me.

I also won a brand new big color TV! Up until that time, I only had a small black and white TV. Let's see, I won a few other minor things, but I don't remember what they were. We got an IRS form at the end of the year and had to pay taxes on the amount the prizes were worth. I think it all amounted to $2800 at the time.

2. Now You See It

I couldn't remember the name of this show, so I looked it up on the internet. It was only on for a couple of years. It was like a crosswords/word search type of game. I was not the grand prize winner. I don't even remember what I won.

3. Let's Make a Deal

I'm not sure how it is now, but back then, you could only be on a couple of game shows within a certain amount of years, and maybe 3 in a lifetime. I think that's changed. When I was pregnant, DH1 and I went to Let's Make a Deal. He wore a baseball umpire's uniform and I wore a striped maternity top, sort of looking like a referee. He was chosen to go down to the main floor and I stayed in the audience.

He was one of the first players to be called on by Monty Hall. Every decision he made was the wrong one. Every box, envelope, or curtain was the wrong one. We could have won a car. We could have won a boat. He was called back up to be in the final round, with two players playing for the big curtain. He won the 2nd or 3rd best curtain. It was a great prize, being expectant parents. He won a washer, dryer, movie camera, projector, and screen. The prizes were all gifts that expectant parents would need!

4. Match Game

Since I had used up my game show appearances for the time being, DH1 applied for the Match Game. A distant cousin sent me a copy of it, which he saw on the Game Show Network. I don't get the GSN. I'd love to have a copy of the other appearances, too.

DH1 was the winner of the two contestants and he went up for the big prize which was $5000. He didn't match Richard Dawson, so he ended up with $500.

5. Wheel of Fortune

Back to me again. I applied for Wheel of Fortune when they gave out prizes instead of money. They gave me box to stand on so I'd be tall enough to reach the wheel. I never hit bankrupt or lose a turn.

Contestants chose from various "rooms" in a house and chose gifts worth the amount of money they had accumulated. I won round 2 and round 4, but the previous winner from the past two shows beat me out in total winnings so she went for the grand prize. It was BLUEBERRY PIE and I knew it, too! The puzzles I had to solve were EARTHQUAKE AFTERSHOCK and BABY SHOWER.

I won a lithograph of a cat and a white rattan set of two chairs and a little table. All of these are still in my bedroom. I also won a camera and a $100 teapot. The teapot still sits on my kitchen stove. I don't remember the designer of the teapot now, but I've looked him up on the internet, and apparently, he's pretty famous.

I have a copy of the appearance on videotape.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend called me and told me that she signed me up to try out for the new game show, Crosswords. She belongs to a Scrabble club and participates in Scrabble tournaments all over the country. She is usually in the top 10. She failed the test for the show. I knew I wouldn't have a chance, but I went down to take the test. Even with her giving me some of the answers on the test (grin), I still failed it and wasn't picked to be on that stupid show. Have you seen it? Prize money is minimal and trips are to places like unknown hotels in Vegas or a small town in Central California. When I asked another friend if she wanted me to refer her, she said not to bother because she prizes are so low. The consolation prize is a watch with Merv Griffin's picture on it.

That's about it. I'd really love to have tapes or recordings of the early shows. Perhaps we'll get the GSN one day and I'll find them on there.