Good morning, Wednesday working dogs! Roads are decent today… it’s not very cold—in a relative sense—and there’s no precipitation, like rain, snow, or fog. Dang it… I’m not sure if fog is considered to be precipitation… I’ll need to look that up. Whatever the case, there’s none of that out there. The winds seem to have diminished some… but there are still gusts, and the red flag warning issued by the Department of Various Colors of Flags for Various Issues of Concern still stands, even if it has been parched, tattered, and scorched. Rocks could throw themselves onto the road at some point, so keep an eye out for them, but at the time that I came down the hill this morning, I did not see any. Let’s still keep a Rock Flag Warning in effect, though.
Notably, there’s a lot of discussion and news chatter about a fire that started last night somewhere near the 210 and Sierra… however, on my westbound travels along I-210, I never saw any evidence of such a thing, and traffic was moving as usual, apparently unaffected by whatever did or did not happen or is happening or not happening at this location or maybe some other place… or not. Whatever… the 210 is as open as it’s ever been… no need to find alternate routes.
So, here’s a random-but-cool thing: During the recent fire in Paradise, nurse Allyn Pierce drove his Toyota Tundra truck to and from the hospital where he worked, in order to care for and evacuate patients. This dude drove through hardcore flames… in fact, in his pursuit of successfully saving MANY lives, his truck got torched pretty badly. It’s scorched, blackened, melted, and ugly now… but it kept on driving long enough to save lives. Now, Mr. Pierce is a true hero in my book… heroes are not made by being gifted at making a basket from 40 feet away, or because they can really combine rhymes and rhythm, or because they were born with the genes that make them look really good in front of a camera. A REAL hero is somebody who overcomes adversity and risks life and limb in the effort to help others… and this guy sure did that. Anyhow… his truck has been baked to the point of WAY overdone. But now the manufacturer of said truck, Toyota, has announced that they will replace his vehicle with a brand new one! Nice… seeing good people rewarded for doing good things is a great thing!
Okay… we now return to our previously scheduled snarky programming. Tragedy struck Elizabeth Warren the other day: She was bitten by a mosquito, and BAM! Just like that, all of her Native American DNA was gone. Just. Like. That…. POOF!
November 14 is National Pickle Day! I relish days like this… they’re so sweet! Now, I mustard off slowly, as I don’t want to onion date you with too much. Just try to ketchup with where I’m going, and lettuce all enjoy this together. We’re not going to stop undill we’ve exhausted the possibilities. I don’t want to spear you wrong, here, though… I’m just a chip off my old man’s block (I was told that the condiment broke, or something), which explains why olive a good pun. My toast to you: Mayo day be great… and, nice buns, by the way!
Today is ALSO National Spicy Guacamole Day. Do not confuse this day with National Guacamole Day, or National Bland Guacamole Day, or even National Regular Old Guacamole Day. They all probably have their own date on the calendar (surely marked with a green smudge), but today is specifically about the contradictory food: Spicy Guacamole. Man, usually guacamole is the gustatory fire extinguisher at the Hispanic foods table. When some freakish fiery devil pepper imported from the bowels of Hell sets your face on fire, a big fat spoonful of guac can usually perform the first aid necessary to survive the oral inferno. But sometimes… it’s spicy guac, and while the fire may be slightly discouraged, it is NOT going to turn your Hell into open fields of butterfly-festooned wildflowers for you. You’ll just need to wait it out… or grab a glass of milk. Wait: make sure it’s not that most diabolical of things, SPICY MILK! Holy guacamole!!!
On this day in history, nothing has happened… it’s too early in the morning. Maybe something will happen later. However, on November 14 of 1908, exactly 110 years ago, Albert Einstein presented his “Quantum Theory of Light.” Did you know that Albert Einstein did research and used data collected in Southern California? It has been said that his Theory of Relativity was based upon the findings of research done by bouncing beams of light back and forth from Mount Wilson to Mount San Antonio (aka Mount Baldy). Some of the concrete structures used for these experiments can still be seen on these mountainsides.
Einstein once said, “Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
So, here’s my advice du jour… words to live by, but just for today: Sit down with Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (it’s good to brush up on it every now and then, lest time and space throw a curveball into your grasp of the space/time continuum), and munch on a big salty pickle. I can’t see anything wrong with enjoying a bowl of spicy guacamole with it, either… but it doesn’t take an Einstein to know better than to wash it down with the spicy milk. Just don’t… Toyota is NOT going to replace your mouth for you.