JesusA (imported) wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:43 am
Thank you all for your concern. We were without power, but we still had water. My wife refused to budge during the "Mandatory Evacuation" of the western half of our county. Half the neighborhood stayed and we organized in case we needed to take quick action. I'll know more tonight when I can count the Halloween crowd. I have candy for about 1700 kids (what was needed last year). If we have a couple of hundred kids, I'll know that things are getting back to normal.
rogerwpbfl (imported) wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:51 pm
Does California or their power company offer an incentive to install solar?
Yes, California does. I believe the states bordering directly to the east of them do not, though Nevada may have changed that recently. They were actually making it prohibitively expensive to install, so nobody would do it.
But we're talking California... Yes, but you still have to pay something for it. It's not like it's a freebie or anything.
Halloween is an important holiday in my neighborhood. Every year the police block off our 4-block street with barricades, police cars, and flashing lights. They close the street at 4:30 pm for the youngest trick-or-treaters and dont reopen it until 9:30 to allow for all the highschoolers and adults. Last year I had candy for 1,000 and ran out before the end of the night, at about 9:00. This year I bought candy for 1,700 a week before the fire. Our neighborhood was concerned that, only one day after the power came back on, there would be few kids coming through. We neednt have worried. I ran out of candy again. This year at about 8:30, just as the highschoolers began coming out in force.
One of the neighbors owns a set of very detailed plastic skeletons to which he can attach thin rods and hidden motors for movement. Last year they became a mariachi band. This year they were a set of hula dancers, swaying to the recorded music. Another neighbor built the prow of a pirate ship (three stories tall!) last year, complete with plastic pipe cannons and smoke bombs. This year he constructed an Alice in Wonderland scene with a rabbit hole for kids to travel through. Another neighbor built a carnival with games, ending with a wheel of fortune to select the candy prize. Our local sculptor built a large stage for a D.J. and his entire family in monkey costumes, dancing. There was plenty of dancing in the street. A brass band marched up and down the street, as did a set of white costumed dancers. There were lighted kinetic sculptures.
I was planning something much more sedate with a purchased Joker costume to stand next to the Batman sculpture in our front yard passing out candy. Instead, grandson and his girlfriend showed up at about 4:00. Grandson decided to become the Joker and his girlfriend became Nurse Ratched. They had a great time passing out candy, especially to the very little ones who always show up first. From 4:30 to about 5:30, the only trick-or-treaters over the age of 5 or 6 were costumed parents or accompanying older siblings. The ages gradually increased over the evening.
It seemed like a normal year. Just more kids than usual.