Thursday's Thoughts & A Couple of Chuckles

NaBloPoMo-Day13

Make Time for Small Reflections
Click for Fun Monday, Ruby Tuesday, & Heads or Tails
My 401st post & bloggy awards
Unconscious Mutterings

While many of you are experiencing 'autumn' and some even 'snow' ... here in Southern California we have 3 days of gusty winds (20-60mph) and temperatures in the 90s ahead, followed by several days in the mid-80s as winds decrease in speed. Of course fire danger is high once again. I'm really ready for some cooler temperatures and rainy days, but I guess it will be a while before we experience those changes.

Today is the Great Southern California Shakeout. At 10am there will be a simulated 7.8 earthquake centered in the Palm Springs area on the San Andreas Fault ... affecting all of Southern California. A seismic event of this magnitude is expected to result in 18,000 deaths and $200 billion in damages. Apparently we have a 46% chance of experiencing such an earthquake in the next 30 years. I remember 'practice events' from my days as a teacher. They often took several hours to complete. With today's warmer WINDY weather, I'm relieved I'm no longer teaching.

I'm a native of California and have lived through many earthquakes, some more frightening than others. They're a 'fact of life' here ... much like tornados in the Midwest & hurricanes in the Gulf states. If you're interested & have time you can click for a 'clickable map' of Historic Earthquakes in Southern California. Here's a fascinating chronological listing of earthquakes from 1900-1999 with links to each event, and this link takes you directly to Northridge earthquake data from 1994 ... another memorable one that caused significant damage to the greater LA area. The last BIG earthquake here occurred in 1971 ... centered in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles.

I'm off to my 5th PSE6 class this morning so I won't be visiting blogs until later this afternoon when I return. I started a conversation about 'financial' matters at Sacred Ruminations yesterday and continued it today ... so you'll find more thoughts & information there than here. I'm skipping T-13 because I have no time to create something worth sharing, but hopefully I'll have time to put something together for next week.

Today I'm choosing ...

how about you?

The Bottom Line

A cowboy rides his horse up to a saloon.

All the patrons gawked as the cowboy kissed his horse on the butt before coming in and asking for a drink.

The bartender serves him and asks, "Mind if I ask why'd ya kiss your horse on the butt?"

The cowboy says, "It's 'cause I got chapped lips."

The bartender asks, "Does manure help them heal?"

Cowboy replies, "No, but it keeps me from licking them."

Totally Bats

Two bats are going for their midnight feed.

After an hour or so, one bat gets tired of looking and goes home with no blood.

The other bat comes home with blood dripping from its mouth. The first bat says enviously, "Where did you get all that blood from?"

The second bat replies, "Follow me. I`ll show you."

After awhile the second bat leads them to a cave. He says, "You see that wall over there?"

The hungry bat excitedly says, "Yes!"

Other bat says, "I didn't."

Small Reflections ... Smile Back

Thought for Today
"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing." William James