Fire

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Wednesday night around 6:30pm, a fire started on the East Spanish Peak. Life went from this:

huajatolla-3.jpgto this:EastpeakfireAnd by the evening it looked like this:Fire from Lathrop State park

The fire started on the Boy Scout Ranch were there were about 178 boy scouts from Kansas and Texas staying. They were evacuated with short notice and were taken to John Mall High School where the Red Cross had set up a shelter.

We saw the fire when we sat down for supper on Wednesday night. Friday morning, I went to the high school and checked how things were going. I ran the rest of my errands after making sure that the scouts had what the district could provide for them.

Dan set up the weather station on the roof so that the local incident control group could use it’s stats. We’ve watched the fire ebb and race with the wind. Yesterday, we thought it was going to die down, only to have the wind pick up and energize the fire. The smoke was really bad, as the East Peak Fire smoke joined with that of the West Fork Complex fire smoke. Not only was the sun orange, but so was the moon last night. Last time I saw the sun look like that was in the 1970’s when we climbed Mt. Whitney and California was burning.

Whitney sunrise

It is now Sunday and the fire has burned 12,442 acres and is about 10% contained. Fire investigators have found the source of the fire, a tree struck by lightning. People have been evacuated from just east of La Veta all the way to I-25 and from south of Walsenburg and HWY 160 to the county line. Walsenburg, La Veta, Aguilar and Trinidad are all on what is called Pre-Evacuation notice. In other words, pack your belongings that you wouldn’t want to lose and be ready to leave.

So, my life is in boxes yet again.

We have National Guard, the Army, A bunch of wildfire fighting teams and lots and lots of locals working the fire. We hear planes flying overhead to drop slurry and helicopters dropping water. We have watched the small planes check out the fire and guide the bigger planes in to do drops. Check out the Huerfano World Journal’s Facebook page for further information and lots of photographs.

And for a bit of dark humor… Everyone around here knows that the Spanish Peaks are also called the Wahatoyas… Breasts of the Mother Earth. Well, in a moment to try and relieve tension, I had one thought. Mother Nature picked one hell of a time to Burn her Bra.

Family

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Living in a small town has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Everyone knows one another and lots and lots of people are related. For me, that is Walsenburg. We all know we are interconnected, but just every once in a while, those connections really come to the fore. Like today.

Today was Sig Sporleder’s memorial service. Sig was an Great Uncle through my Grandma Sudar’s side of the family. Sort of convoluted, but it makes Gretchen Orr my cousin. Sig’s obit is available at http://www.huerfanojournal.com/more_news.php The Huerfano Journal is my cousin’s newspaper that I write for.

Dan and I were a little late for the service, but not too late. Daniel and his girlfriend were there too. Then we walked down to the community center. I baked focaccia bread. Once we got there, Dan and I do what we do best. We pitched in. I cut bread and Dan helped the ladies get all of the meat out on the table and then we cut limes for the beer. There was a ton of food, and lots ot dirink, both alcoholic and not.

I saw lots of people I hadn’t seen in years. At one end was the food and at the other was a slideshow of Sig’s life. It was great. We finally said our goodbye’s around 4pm. On the way home, I made the comment to Dan that I was related/connected to about half the people there. It was a good feeling.

Now to catch our breath and then get ready for tomorrow’s meeting.

Back into the icebox!!!

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At least that is where it feels like the world has been for the last few weeks. We get teased by a warm day and frozen the next. Brrrrrr!!! I am so ready for Spring!!!

Over the last few weeks I have… chopped down a tree, gone on a walk with my Dad and Dan and brought home a bag full of fossilized clams, done lots of laundry and school work, had fun at KnitWits and tried not to stress too much. I think I’m making progress on the stress, but some days it is in the wrong direction! Oh well.

I passed my computer class with a perfect score. No surprise there. I’m now in the middle of two business classes. yawn.. big frustration for me is that the classes are aimed at the 19-24 year olds. Sorry, but I already do most of the stuff they are talking about or… see no use for it in this economy. Oh well. 6 papers to go and I age a week off.

Let’s see…. Dan went to Denver this weekend to talk to the Government about this idea he’s had for unemployment. One meeting on Friday and one on Monday. He’s up in a hotel for the weekend. When not up to his eyeballs in papers, he has gone out with our friend Caron a time or two. 🙂 I’m glad she is willing to show him around. Denver can be fun or a nightmare, depending on how well you know it.

Today, I started out the morning slow…. Slept in a bit. Then the phone started. First my parents. Just a hello type call. Then Dan and I chatted for 30 minutes and I got caught up on his day. After that, I got a call from the Census office. An interview via the phone and then 30 minutes later, a job offer!!!! I’m going to be an assistant crew manager. Wheee!!! I could really enjoy a paycheck about now. While the Huerfano Journal has been the cement holding all the bits together most days, it would be nice to have a little more in my pocket. Plus, all the other job offers are still in the wings with no firm offers yet. sigh…. I start training on the 8th of February.

After all the phone calls, it was off to a gardening meeting. The community garden is gearing up. Wheee!!! Funny bit is that I have spinach in my bed from last year!!! Salad in a few days if it doesn’t freeze too hard. 🙂

Lucky Number 9?

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Happy New Year! I had a really quiet New Year’s Eve. However, since then life has been hectic. Today is the first day that hasn’t had me going 9000 miles per hour.

About 15 days ago, one of our chamber board members got given an Ordinance that the City was gong to put into law. #982. That one was all about business license. Biggest issue was that this ordinance was so broken, that if we as the chamber didn’t do something, it would be criminal. They upped the license from $5 in perpetuity to $35 a year. Plus, the way they worded it, you had to have a license if you even thought about being in business. Oh, and the lawyer who “authored” this thing cut and pasted from about five different places. The numbering and bullets were all wrong and some things just did not make sense.

So, we called our “pet city councilman” who happens to be the chairman of the finance committee and a fellow journalist at the Huerfano Journal. It was a general “hey! this is Broken! Want to FIX IT!” call. Larry came over and we talked about it. Lots of good ideas exchanged and some things clarified. I took notes, Larry took notes. All good. We let the general business population know what was going on and that we planned as a board to go to the next finance committee meeting.

In the meantime, we were also made aware of Ordinance 981, which was about the liquor license which is set out in Colorado Revised Statute 12-47-505. Oh was that messed up. It took us most of the weekend to fix our brains on that one. Sunday was one of those “Oh My Gods” epiphany moments when we realized that the City was trying to follow the law as they are a Statutory City, and yet had gotten it horridly wrong.

Monday of course was the Finance meeting. We went along with a lot of the Chamber Board and various business people. Dan got to be spokesman. 🙂

Dan looking serious
Dan looking serious

My cousin Brian Orr took lots of pictures. He also captured Dan looking very “Ben Franklinesque”

Dan and the mob
Dan and the mob

That’s me trying not to look at the camera and Nancy Lave, one of our board members next to Dan. He did a really good job. We got the committee to decide to recommend to the City Council the idea of taking 982 back to committee.

Next day, while getting ready for the City Council meeting, we took another look at 981. I finally got cross eyed enough that I called the Department of Revenue and got the number of a man named Dan Gunter. He is the head of the liquor license division, and the expert on 12-47-501-505. After a 45 minute conversation, I told our Dan that we needed to go talk to the City people again. So, off we went. We spoke to the City Clerk, and the City Manager, and they both said that they would talk to Dan Hyatt, the City Lawyer. (too many Dan’s!) Of course, by this time I have people patting me on the head with the whole “Jaye, you are just out of your depth, and  you don’t know what you are talking about.” grrrrrrrrr!

At the meeting, they discussed the whole thing and when we got to Ordinance 981, the lawyer stood up and admitted that he was wrong!!! That he had made a typo! One Hell of a bloody typo! Overcharging local businesses by nearly 50%! That we didn’t all jump up and cheer is a miracle. However, Dan was a smart arse and mentioned that he’d call off the pitchfork, torch, tar and feather brigade. 🙂 That got everyone’s attention and elicited nervous laughter from the 30+ audience. He also stood up and said that the Chamber of Commerce would support 981 as long as the changes were made. Everyone agreed. Then 982 was legally turned back to committee and the Chamber will work with the Finance committee on that one. Yeeeeehawwwww!!!!!! We were so happy! Best part for me was the councilman who came over and apologized to me for saying that I was wrong! I was right. :):):)

It was very cool too that the Chamber was actually doing what it is meant to do. Help business!

Wednesday was slightly calm. I went to a meeting of the county commissioners and got ready for our chamber meeting. First one of the year and elections.

Thursday… Election day. I had things as ready as I could get. And of course, the screw up fairy hit. Two board members neither called or showed up. So, we started 15 minutes late. I had to run the elections. Wheee…… I am the recording secretary for the board. Mike got the presidency, Nancy the Veep, and Dan is now Treasurer. I have the feeling that Patty, our old treasurer is floating on air with happiness! We got through a very long agenda and then finally got home around 9pm. Nearly 4 hours of meeting. Blahhhh

Oh, and Dan got his picture on the front page of the Huerfano Journal. Not sure what is more fun. Watching him when people recognize him or just watching the people. teehee…

Today was hectic on other levels. I started out the day by taking the two dogs, Brandy and Blanca to the vet for shots. Then it was off to the Chamber. It started snowing at about noon, and is still dumping the white stuff down. argh……

Meanwhile, I have paid the electric bill, water bill, tank rental, bought propane, picked up Morgan from Badito, ran errands for the Chamber and now all I need to do is make some dinner and go to bed!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

And the copier commits suicide…

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Today was busy at work. Pauline stopped by, as did John Carlson, Carol and her hubby as well as half a dozen people looking for work. At least Shirley was there to deal with them. Oh, and the phone rang. Most of it was hang up calls. Why on earth would anyone prank a Chamber of Commerce? Bored? Stupid? Oh well… I was trying to get two days work done in one so that I could have tomorrow off. Since I get paid by the hour, it doesn’t work to just take time off.

While trying to hunt down information on concealed carry permits, I told one of our businesswomen in town about the Open Source software we’ve been trying to make people aware of for weeks. She wanted a copy of the  disk and a chamber application. So, gathering my stuff, off I went. Dan covered the office. I dropped off the software, new brochures from the chamber, got invited to present this info at the next school board meeting and then stopped by the Huerfano Journal. I had paychecks! Wheee! I really enjoy working for the Journal. It helps that my cousin Gretchen and her hubby Brian own and operate the paper, but I actually enjoy writing the articles.  (hi Brian! hi Gretchen!) I’m starting a history column mid January. I already do three. I picked up a laptop they want Dan to work on as well.

I got back to work with lunch in hand. I was working on getting stuff caught up and almost had everything ready for the board meeting next week in between bites of french fries. Emphasis on almost. Dan went to go copy something and the printer made this noise. Sort of a cross between a cat being pulled apart and one of those really annoying party horns. He cussed and tried it again. Then the tool bag came out. First he threatened it and then he started pulling it apart. Dan worked on copiers and printers in another life, far away in Nashville. More cussing. Then he borrowed the phone. He talked to Gobins and discovered that while the parts needed were covered by our service contract, the labor  wasn’t. $380 worth of labor for a 14 year old copier. Hmm…. I don’t think so. However, that isn’t a decision that I can make. So, I added it to the agenda for the meeting.

It also meant a whole new flurry of emails to boardmembers to let them know what is going on. Wheeee……

Soap Opera Week

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Where else can you find drama? Embezzlement? Fraud? Office backstabbing and kindergarten behavior? Easy… Right here in Rural Colorado. Yep! And that’s just in the DA’s side. We won’t even think about what goes on on the jail side of the building.

Monday… the air conditioning is acting up. It recycles the air and so smells from one part of the building invade other sections. This would have been fine except for the fact that some one in the staff area bathroom had the bowel movement from hell. Ten minutes later, you could smell it in our office and at the front door. Awwwgh…

Tuesday’s saga…. The “HR/Victims advocate” walked in wearing a perfume that just ripped my lungs up. Asthma. I had to call Dan to bring me my inhaler. Meanwhile, the ADA was dodging phone calls from lawyers, and was late for court yet again. I think he’s been on time once. I dealt with my asthma, Pattie goes off for an interview because she wants out of this office, and life is quiet for a few hours.

We have a 17yo that stole a car in Texas, and got caught here. We can’t hold him because he’s a juvenile. So, we send him to Pueblo Youth Center. We tell Texas where he is. They can’t understand why we can’t hold him, because in Texas, he’s an adult. (sigh) They are on the road to pick him up in Pueblo when we get a call that he is now in Colorado Springs, as they ran out of room… I get a half assed message to that effect, and tell Dee, who tries to call Texas in route. She finally gets a hold of the Texas base who relays the info to the traveling sheriff.

One of the ex-DA’s stopped in to visit. He is now a private lawyer. They were chatting about what idiots the ADA and DA were. He of course left crayons and a a coloring book on the desk of the ADA who plays solitaire instead of working on his cases. Oh that went over like a lead balloon!

After lunch, I get back to find that Pattie has laid into the HR gal about the perfume while I was gone when she asked rather snottily where I was. (I left a little early for lunch) When I next see the HR gal, it is obvious that she has “washed off” her perfume. She tried to tell Pattie that she had worn the same perfume all the time. I told Pattie, no, and that she had washed, as my nose is rather sensitive to scent.

Meanwhile, we are working on cases that the ADA has ‘finished’. He let an arson case go, dismissed almost 20 tickets without fines being paid, (keep in mind that the DA’s office generates money via fines) and

allowed felonies to be pleaded down to misdemeanors. (One of them had 4 separate files generated in 2 days) Pattie gets a phone call from the woman who had from the job I have. The benefits company won’t pay her as the DA’s office hasn’t paid them. (although the DA’s office took out the money from their paychecks) Apparently, this is history repeating itself. In fact, the CBI was here the other day to get testimony on the previous time that this same thing happened. Pattie and Dee are going to be monitoring their pay stubs to see if they are being robbed of the interest that should have been accruing if the benefits had been paid. The DA prior to the one in office now, spent 3 of his 4 years in office screwing up the budget to the point where people couldn’t cash their paycheck, bills weren’t being paid, etc. Oh, and this guy is running for office again and is the BEST candidate for the job!

The local sheriff and all of his staff detest the DA and ADA. They hand them case after case that should go straight through the court system and end in convictions, and the lawyers botch them. Which means that the same offenders are out on the street faster than we can process the paperwork. Remember that comment I made that the same 4-5 families do all the crime? Well, part of that same bunch got off scott free Tuesday.

Then extradition case to New Mexico. A woman who is 8 months preggers was wanted in New Mexico. So, we were going to send her. However, she had 2 cases here pending that needed cleared before she could go. New Mexico was on their way to pick her up and guess what ADA hadn’t cleared the cases…..

Wednesday. A quiet day. 11 tickets, a hysterical man in the outer office, a report from Dan and Karen and lots of boredom. The hysterical man had a dog which got into a dog fight at one of the bars. The owner of the other dog kicked it and stabbed it in the skull with a knife. Dog gets taken to the vet, and the man waits to see if he is going to get charged with having a violent animal. Unfortunately, the vet is the most expensive one in the county and won’t release the dog until the bill is paid. Someone liked this guy. The cops and DA dropped all charges and some Samaritan paid the nearly $300 vet bill. Then the cops took him out to pick up his dog, which will live.

Dan and Karen came by with a map showing the area they could cover with a cheap repeater and that equaled nearly 95% of the county. The sheriff and head deputy were in heaven. This county has a long history of communication issues due to geography. That may have just been solved.

Today started out ok. Then Pattie did something to piss off the ADA and the next thing we knew, Pattie was being sent home for being rude and childish. (right…) So, I had the office to myself for most of the day. I also learned that my stint of work at the office will be over by July 11th. My replacement comes in next week and will train in Trinidad. (hmm…. interesting….) By 3pm, Mike decided to go home. In order to cover his tracks, he let the rest of us go home too. Wheeee!

Tonight we are having a wake for Tirion/Sir Starhelm. Dan is making his meat roll things. Fun bit is he is in the kitchen pounding away with the meat tenderizer in beat to the music. Tomorrow Dan and I are invited to a 4th of July party that will be as much business as fun. Pauline lives up on this ranch with Mike and Gloria, and that is where the party will be.

Oh! Almost forgot. Dan and I both got paid today. I had my Starry Skies column in the Huerfano Journal, and Dan had both his Tech Savvy article as well as one about the ARRLS field day. (ham radio play day) http://huerfanojournal.com/extra.php

I’m really enjoying writing for the Journal. Dan is also publishing his articles on his LiveJournal. http://ujoronen.livejournal.com/

See ya!

A hot Tuesday afternoon

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And what may be my last quiet day for a while. On Monday I went to an interview at the D.A.’s office. I was hoping to have a full time job there. However, it seems that there are other candidates with more clerical experience than me. Therefore I was interviewed for the part time job. I was suppose to go meet the D.A. tomorrow and see if he “liked” me. However, the woman I interviewed with called me this afternoon and asked if I could start tomorrow. I said yes! Granted, it is part time. 8 to 5, M-F for at least 3 weeks, or until such time as the full time person is ready/in place/etc. $8 an hour too. After that, they’ll decide if I will be kept on part time or what. I’m hoping that they find I’m just what they need. Fingers crossed!!

Also this afternoon, Dan and I went to a meeting at the Huerfano Journal. Chere Cuz Gretchen and Hubby Brian’s newspaper. The other local paper is about to take a nose dive, and they are trying to get ready to pick up the slack. :> Dan writes the Tech Savvy articles for the paper and I went along because it’s family and I help on the tech articles every once in a while. During the discussion, other columns were brought up.  Some being the Moon Talk and Weirdness Beat. Of course, just previous to that I had mentioned that we needed a Huerfanology column to cover all the odd things that go on in the county. Of course, I said I’d help with the Moon Talk column, and then Gretchen asked who would like to do the Weirdness Beat and they all looked straight at ME! So, I get to write two columns!!! It will probably be once a month for both, but that doesn’t bother me a bit. teeheehee… I get to cover weird lights in the sky, tarantula and tortoise migrations and all things Weird. :>

We also talked about doing humorous columns about life in Huerfano County. I think I’ll submit the story about John being upset that I was related to everyone except the postman, only to have the postman walk up and say, “hello Cuz!”

Today I’m going to finish up various bits here at 520, like painting doors and then some laundry before I head off to bed. 6:45am is going to come very early. I’m going to baby my knee a but too. I tripped yesterday and bashed my right knee rather nastily. sigh….. I am such a klutz at times. Dan and Brandy both tried to help me up. Poor pup! She may not have thumbs, but she is loving.

In Print!!!!

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I talked to one of the local reporters two days ago, and it bore fruit!!!

Pueblo Chieftain article

We also made the Huerfano Journal in the Briefs section.

Huerfano Journal article

Plus, business has been going well. We are connecting people and selling equipment to help people connect better. Huzzah!!!! Now we have to get cracking on the paperwork that is piling up. Or, that needs to be written and then dealt with. Wheeee! Can you tell I’m just a little bit excited?