Electric and Gas Company to Bury 10,000 Miles of Line to Reduce California Fire Risk
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has announced plans to bury 10,000 miles of their lines underground. It is hoped this will significantly reduce risk of fires. The initiative will also allow more of California’s trees to grow naturally. The Good News Network has more.
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Google to Hire More People with Autism
Google is launching a new program to hire more people with autism. The plan includes working with Stanford University’s Neurodiversity Project to train Google Cloud managers and interviewers. Here’s more from Disability Scoop.
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Beyond the Classroom, Beyond Zoom, this Preschool Teacher Teaches from a Renovated Bus
Several months after her school was shut down by COVID, preschool teacher Jerilee Melo found an old 70s style bus on Facebook Marketplace and renovated it into a mobile classroom. She parks the bus at a certain locations for small groups of students and utilizes the surrounding environments as much as possible. Enjoy these details and photos from Good Morning America.
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A Seven-Year-Old’s Response to Bullying
Rowyn Montgomery was bullied in first grade. His response was to make inspirational videos to help other kids cope. Here’s the story:
Got Good News?
Feel free to share your good news or GNT link in the comments!
Here’s today’s interesting stream of consciousness prompt: “least-favorite word.” Use your least-favorite word in your post. If you can’t decide on one, use a word that just really bugs you. Enjoy!
Just one word?
There are plenty of words I don’t like. Maybe I’ll figure out my least favorite if I start rambling them off.
“Unbelievable!” is one my ex boyfriend used a lot. It got on my nerves, because I could believe things that were really cool. Unbelievable would be something like the pigs flying when they are not in heaven, because pigs go to heaven just like dogs. So if you see a pig flying, I mean really flying, you might be in heaven.
Impossible. No surprises there since my blog title is “Anything is possible.” My dad told me “Nothing is impossible,” when I was 12 and it stuck.
Tirelessly. I might have written about this before. Back when I worked in a stressful job with way too much paperwork, the boss gave a big speech at a banquet and talked about how we staff had been working “tirelessly.” But I was damn tired. If someone works tirelessly, they either haven’t worked very long, or they are on too much caffeine and will eventually burn out. Or at least need a rest. We’re human. We get tired. There’s a backlash going around about glamorizing overwork. Maybe I can find the meme. Be right back….
On the other hand, there’s this thing lately about having trouble finding people to work. We saw that on a sign the other night when we went out to a restaurant and someone didn’t show up for work. The sign said,
Be nice to our servers, we are short staffed. People don’t want to work.
There must be some kind of balance. A need to treat people with respect. Expect responsibility and work, but not 50 hours a week with no overtime.
I guess I got off on a tangent.
There’s still no male component for the word, “bitch,” is there? I mean, it’s a female dog, and that’s okay, but, well you know the issue with a male who exhibits the same behavior being praised, except not by me.
I knew I was forgetting something, so went to ask David what word I don’t like. He thought for a minute, then said, “always.” Yes. How could I forget about “always,” and “never,” and “everybody.” They are rarely true. Can you think of an example where always, never, or everybody is true?
Okay, If you’re telling someone to always look both ways before crossing the street, that’s good. But saying, politicians always lie – there’s no proof of that. I mean, surely they one might tell the truth, sometimes. There are always possibly exceptions.
They say it never rains in California, but it does, sometimes, and I’m praying it rains more. A steady, but moderate rain to quench the dry earth and put out the fires.
Just for the sake of balance, here are some of my favorite words,
Possibilities
Rainbow
Bliss
Peace
Hope
Maybe
May it be……
Today’s SoCS prompt is brought to us by our host, Linda Hill. Find out more at:
Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday was: “starts with cal.” Use a word starting with the letters “cal” as your prompt word. Have fun!
We lived in California when I was a kid. For first, second, and third grade, I went to Santa Margarita school at Camp Pendleton. We lived in military housing, an upstairs apartment, on “Wire Mountain,” next to a canyon. My dad used to go hiking in the canyon. I begged him to let me go with him, and one day, he finally agreed. The only part I consciously remember was climbing back up and whining because it was steep, and I was scared and tired. I can understand now, as an adult who likes to hike in wild places, why he didn’t want to take a second grade girl to the canyon. But he did, and I am thankful, because there are probably things I experienced still in my subconscious mind that are like buried treasures.
After California, dad was stationed at the naval base in Philadelphia where he became the brig warden. He said he liked talking to the prisoners, or rather listening to them which was what the training emphasized. Then in 1966, he was sent to Vietnam.
Yesterday, I finished reading Dad’s letters from Vietnam. There are 118 letters that I’ve counted. Some are missing, because there are gaps, but talk about treasures! He wrote about marking the days off the calendar and keeping track of how many days he had left, but sometimes he stopped doing that, because it seemed to make time go slower. He did a lot of different jobs in Vietnam. The first seven months were in Dong Ha near the DMZ which meant combat. He was a gunny and one of the few enlisted /non officer men to lead a platoon. His nightmares lasted the rest of his life. Then after seven months, he managed the staff and officers club in Khe Sanh and went back and forth between there and Phu Bai and Da Nang which he called, “the rear.” He wrote about losing weight and feeling good physically, except for the heat. Maybe the calorie intake was lower, or maybe he burned up a lot of calories being so busy. In addition to the club management, he did night watches, supervised security, and became the re-enlistment staff NCO. Not sure what all that entailed, but I’m glad he didn’t see much more combat after those first seven months.
Maybe you’ve seen these before, but maybe not. I never get tired of looking old photos, now that I’m older.
The letters were often written by candlelight and are surprisingly sentimental. He wrote about the heat, the mud, and mostly about how much he missed my mom. I’ve typed them up and have been working on incorporating them into what I’m calling a “Fictionalized Family History” for my kids. Next week, I’m going to be listening to some videos I recorded from the many stories he told me.
Sunday will be my mother’s birthday. He sure did love her a lot. Every letter is signed like this:
All My Love
Forever Your Husband
Jimmy.
I’m glad they are together again in heaven.
My favorite photo of my parents with me on the left – a picnic in Newfoundland, Canada around 1961.
Yesterday a bad storm was in the forecast, but it never materialized here. Instead we had some interesting light just before sunset:
For more streams of consciousness and rules, visit our host, Linda Hill at:
A Team Effort Saves Lives in Dallas Apartment Fire
Quick thinking by neighbors and first responders saved the lives of everyone in this raging apartment fire.
Rain in California
Yes, the rain in California could increase risk of mudslides and complicate searches, but it also brings relief from devastating fire and hope for healing. I didn’t find a news story about the rain that didn’t give equal or more attention to the risk of mudslides. It’s a real risk, but can we just take a minute be thankful for the rain?
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A Husky Named Sinatra Makes it Home
Sinatra the Husky disappeared from his home in New York some time after his human sibling, 16 year old Zion, was killed. He was found in Florida 18 months later by another teenager. We don’t know how Sinatra got from New York to Florida. But I can’t help but wonder if he was looking for Zion. His rescuers and friends of the family made sure he got home. It’s a touching story.
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Thanksgiving to a Veteran, to All Veterans:
Thanksgiving is not over. We can give thanks every day. Donna Caye wrote a letter of thanks in 1970 to a soldier serving in Vietnam. She recently got to tell him thank you again in person.
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Good News Tuesday seeks to add a touch of balance, one Tuesday at a time.
“Me, I want to choose to live my life from a hopeful space, even if it isn’t always easy.” _Maria Shriver
And it isn’t always easy. Sometimes I have to work hard to pull my mind off the worry wagon with with it’s warnings to be prepared for the worst and onto the path of peace to hope for the best. Because what we focus on gets bigger.
Today, I’m hoping for steady, gentle rain over California, strength and comfort for all who live there, and healing.
The first thing that popped into my mind was how Dorothy liquidated the wicked witch by throwing water on her. I wish someone big would throw liquid, ie water, on the fires in California. God, please give them some of this rain we’re getting in North Carolina, even the snow my son is getting in the mountains. Just move it on over there to the west. God, we don’t need any more rain here. Please?
Those fires are horrible. I hate to think of the loss of life – human and animal. And plants- the trees. Sad. I know they will come back in other forms. Thank you to the first responders who are battling those fires. I know your adrenaline runs out after a while. My prayers are with you in the west. Sending angels with water buckets, no angels to push the clouds together, punch holes in the clouds, make it RAIN over the fires.
Well, like I hinted at, we have plenty of rain lately where I live. And it’s cold. Have to bring the plants in tomorrow. I’ve been drinking a lot of liquids since I have a cold. Lots of water which I may take for granted, and soup. I like soup anyway in the winter or fall, or any time I have a cold. I’ve had Manhattan clam chowder from a can for lunch the past two days, mixed in some garlic and kale. Last night, I had miso soup at the restaurant, and I plan to make lentil soup Sunday night. Some tomato basil would be good tonight. If I wasn’t a vegetarian (well, almost cause I did eat clam chowder) I’d have chicken soup. But that’s okay. Maybe I’ll have a smoothie for lunch. Apple cider with cinnamon. Oh, I just remembered, I have some green chai tea! I wish I could send all these liquids to California.
Calm those fires, God, give the people strength.
Here’s to the everyday heroes:
I do believe we can make it rain there in California, sooner than later.
Georgia/California/Georgia/California Rain Rain Rain California RAIN rain rain………Southern California Rain. But not floods.
For more streams of consciousness on “liqu,” visit Linda Hill’s post at:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Anything is Possible! 