NOT safe, NOT well

[orfeo]

Okay, so I was LYING.

I'm miserable as hell. Hell, incidentally, being what I saw while travelling through southern Canberra on Saturday afternoon. Someone described it looking like volcanoes erupting, which is about the only other description that fits. The sky was either black or dark red and it was pitch black by 3pm in many places. Apparently the smoke could be seen at the coast over 100 miles away.

Meanwhile I'm sitting here at work and I can't do a f**king thing about anything. Just listen to Boys for Pele and try and let it out of my system (man, that fire imagery is taking on a whole new aspect right now). Try and concentrate, try and do something even though half my work is in suspended animation because my boss hasn't been here for the last two days. He has now power or water supply.

So, you all get the benefit of me having to tell SOMEONE how miserable I am.

What the f**k is wrong with me? I still have my house, everything I own is still here, no-one I know died, my sister probably isn't in any real danger despite the alert on her side of town, thousands of people are in much worse situations than me, and yet I'm the one here at work who just can't get on with life and obsesses over every little piece of information I can get. I even spent time checking out international websites to see whether the rest of the world was getting a proper picture of what was happening here.

I absolutely love this city - how beautifully planned it was so that 300,000 people can live in the midst of parks, reserves and wildlife. We're not known as "the bush capital" for nothing. Every time I travel to another city - especially Sydney - I miss seeing all the trees, and I'm always so glad to come back here where I know I'll be able to see something green just about anywhere. The big attraction of the suburb of Duffy was that it was nestled right at the edge of the pine forests that were planted here decades ago. Now about 235 houses are gone in Duffy (something like one fifth of the suburb) because a fireball shot out of the forest faster than anyone could cope.

The national media have descended like vultures. The local reporters ask reasonable questions about progress, aid for victims and so on, and the out-of-towners spent yesterday trying to find someone to blame. The damn crisis isn't even over yet, and they want to distract emergency services from their job by pointing fingers.

The police have barred "sightseers" from the two worst suburbs, but guess where the national news presenters do their stories from? It's fine to go in and interview residents if they want to talk, but you can't tell me there's any decent reason for having a news PRESENTER doing the presentation in a back yard that isn't there any more. They just want to show they're "on the spot". Getting in the f**king way more like it.

OK, that's enough of a rant for just now, but I may be back!

[raisangrrl]

i think it's only right for you to worry. i mean for crying out loud, your home is being taken by a vengeful force! i couldn't fathom what's going through your mind. but, trust me, it's normal. nothing may have happened to you or anyone you love, but i think that if it's that close, you have the right to worry.
and fuck reporters (well the majority). all they care about is their next big story. when someone dies, who do they go to? the people that are greiving. that's what they're doing, going to the people grieving about the loss of their homes, their lives. they don't care that they've just lost everything, just shove the microphone in the face and show a sorrowful picture, so everyone can see. the world can see. we don't need them disrupting lives even more.
if i could hug you, i would *cyber hugz from new york* don't think you don't have a right to feel ill about what's happening. i feel ill just knowing that it's going on, and i'm across the ocean. just try to be as safe as you can, and watch out for the ones you love. and remember, we will listen to you ramble, bitch and moan, with no complaints that's what we're here for, right? we love you, and will always give you a shoulder whenever you need it.

*hugz*
raisangrrl

[orfeo]

raisangrrl said:

if i could hug you, i would *cyber hugz from new york*

Thankyou, I needed that!

It helps, especially when I'm listening to Putting the Damage On and Twinkle at the same time - the cathartic part of Boys for Pele. I can feel some of the rage going...

[raisangrrl]

really? both at once??? that must be very interesting!

and hugz are free, so have some more! *hugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugz*

raisangrrl

[elizabeth]

I wish I knew more about what was happening there, but the least I can say is I understand your sense of loss of the trees and your anger at the people who aren't even aware of that loss. I always felt protective when I lived at the ocean and no one seemed to care about her....never been to Australia but i wish all of you there luck lots of luck more love from new york,elizabeth

[Daemeon]

I got one in my apartment complex that does Tai Chi....by this dumpster like 20 yards from the street. The first time I saw him I was taking out the trash and was like "Umm, OK "

[Daemeon]

WHOOPS!! I REPLIED TO THE WRONG THREAD

[orfeo]

raisangrrl said:

really? both at once??? that must be very interesting!

and hugz are free, so have some more! *hugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugzhugz*

raisangrrl

Well done, you made me laugh out loud ;D

OK, so my wording was bad! What I meant was I changed from one song to the other while reading your message.

Oh and Daemeon, you can reply to whatever thread you like here honey

[Daemeon]

OK, now for what I was going to post on this thread, thats what I get for having so many windows open

I just read that article on CNN, pretty insane. Make sure you stay safe.

[undeniabledilemma]

I got one in my apartment complex that does Tai Chi....by this dumpster like 20 yards from the street. The first time I saw him I was taking out the trash and was like "Umm, OK "

dude, lmao!!

Orfeo, I think I understand how you feel a little because of 9/11. I had like this horrible feeling that things had changed and nothing would be the same.

It's just crazy...

I guess when you get home, just take a look over everything you have and try to be grateful. It's hard, and I know that personally, but it'll hit you all at once and it'll be the greatest feeling...I don't know how to describe it.

They made us go to grief counselors post 9/11 and mine said that one of the best ways to feel better is to help out. Since so many people lost houses and all their belongings, I'm sure there will be some type of clothes/food/whatever drive or charities to help out people. Maybe you could get stuff together to donate? It sounds stupid, but I think it really did help me come to terms with what happened and that things won't be the same afterwards. But just because they're not the same, doesn't mean they won't be as good.

[orfeo]

Thankyou for that undeniabledilemma, once again you've successfully hit the nail on the head.

By the way I love your new sig! Anyone who gives me three pictures of Gillian to look at is going to make my day on a regular basis. She is just so beautiful in those shots, especially the first two.

She is THE reason for watching the X-Files. Scullycentric episodes were consistently a cut above average just because her acting is so damn wonderful. The woman can say more with a couple of expressions than most actors could manage with a whole page of dialogue.

Fave episode of all is probably "Tithonus" - what's yours?

[Daemeon]

Do they know what caused the fire? I have never really heard of Australia having a fire problem or does that happen a lot.

[orfeo]

Daemeon said:

Do they know what caused the fire? I have never really heard of Australia having a fire problem or does that happen a lot.

It happens a LOT!

In fact many native Australian plants are so well-adapted to fire the seeds will only sprout after a fire has passed through. Many species of eucalypt deliberately encourage fire by having strips of bark hanging in the air as wicks, plus high concentrations of eucalyptus oil in their leaves. If you've heard of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney (which frequently have bad fires), the reason they look blue is because of the eucalyptus oil in the air.

This is the driest inhabited continent on earth.

These particular fires started something like 100 kilometres away high in the mountains. There were lightning strikes 9 or 10 days before the fires reached Canberra. One or two of the minor fires within the city MAY have been deliberately lit, but the main ones that caused all the destruction were definitely natural.

What was relatively unusual was the location - the alpine regions don't burn all that often. However once it got going it was more or less unstoppable. Scientists are saying they may have to revise their measurement scale because this one was so extreme.

Still, when you're having a once-in-a-century drought, maybe a once-in-a-century fire isn't all that surprising. It just happened there was a major city in the way.

[Daemeon]

Yeah, I thought about my question for a minute and realized how dry it is down there. It is probably because fires in other countries don't make the news here unless they are huge. I also just read on CNN that some people are really pissed at the Australian government for not being prepared. Is this true?

[raisangrrl]

i'm glad i made you laugh. i'm sure you needed it.

*hugz*

[orfeo]

Daemeon said:

I also just read on CNN that some people are really pissed at the Australian government for not being prepared. Is this true?

It's the local Australian Capital Territory government they're attacking, and mostly it's a national media beat-up. Like I said at the start of this thread, the local media aren't interested in laying blame. Neither are the majority of local residents who actually had some idea of what happened. 9 out of 10 of the critics have no f**king idea, because they weren't there.

I've seen several comments along the lines that it wouldn't have mattered whether the firetrucks were there or not. Most residents in Duffy are saying no amount of warning would have helped. One of the fire chiefs said they could have had the entire USA fire service lined up and houses would still have been lost. Maybe not as many, but still some.

Areas in the pine forest that were burnt out a year or two ago and therefore had minimal fuel still caught fire because the conditions were so perfect.

Apparently the fire measurement scale goes from 0 to 100,000. You can only fight fires less than about 5,000. This one was peaking out the scale, so I'd LOVE to know what the government was supposed to have done.

[orfeo]

Also...

Yes, fires in other countries generally don't make the news HERE unless they are pretty big. The ones in California that bumblebee mentioned made the news here, so did ones in Yosemite that just went on and on a year or two ago.

I guess from now on we won't have the problem of people thinking Sydney is the capital of Australia, because you've all heard of Canberra now!

[Daemeon]

Yeah, reporters suck sometimes. I am in the Air Force over here and the media has a habit of screwing things up for people. They will do a story like "We can see a special operations soldier hiding under this rock behind me, lets talk to him, by the way, we are 10 km East of Kabul." In Somalia, they were shining lights on soldiers landing on the beach

[orfeo]

I've got a sudden picture in my head of someone asking the governor of Kansas why he didn't stop the tornados this year.

You get the idea!

Australians like to believe they can control the elements I think. It probably comes from trying to impose a European way of life on a totally alien land.

[Daemeon]

Yeah, I know what you mean, same thing as getting into a car wreck and trying to say you should have done something different last night to prevent it. Who would have known you were going to hit a truck the next day. I bet someone will get blamed though because politics is notorius for doing that, even if it was noones fault.