All the RAve - the RAnts of RA

How reliable is 911 in an emergency?

In an emergency situation a 911 operator can be a true lifeline. We teach our children that if help is needed quickly dial 911 and the operator will provide assistance. But are the 911 services as effective and reliable as we've been led to believe?

On the way home from a trip to Merced on Monday, April 28, 2008, as we turned onto the street where we lived, we were shocked to find a neighbors truck on fire. The flames were shooting high into the sky. Fortunately, the truck had been parked in front of the post office, in an area clear of trees and brush or our entire neighborhood may have went up in flames.

My husband immediately dialed 911 from his cell phone. I was flabbergasted when I heard a recording being played on the line. A short while later an operator finally came on the line. My husband informed the operator that a truck was on fire in front of the post office in Twain Harte, CA and that a fire truck was needed.

The operator informed him that unless he knew the cross street, she couldn't take the report. I couldn't believe my ears, my husband was literal dumbfounded – especially since the fire department was literally two blocks away. Anyone in Twain Harte knows exactly where the post office is. It's a tiny community.

My husband expressed his disbelief to the operator. She told him she would try to pass the information along. Instead of waiting to see if someone would respond, we drove the two blocks to the fire department. I frantically rang the bell, and yelled fire. After what seemed like forever (probably only a couple minutes) a fireman came out on the balcony and asked if something was wrong. I explained that a truck was on fire in front of the post office.

It took 15-minutes from the time we dialed 911, until someone actually showed up at the scene. Finally, a lone firefighter arrived to put out the still shooting flames.

I used to feel secure in knowing that if a fire ever broke out near our home that we were well protected. After all, we have three fire departments in very close proximity to this area. But now I'm not so confident.

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Labels: 911, emergency, fire, fire department, operator

Is an eco-friendly burial for you?

Have you caught Forecast Earth by The Weather Channel? It's an interesting relatively new show that – even as a non-environmentalist, I find informative and helpful. When the show first aired, I was expecting to hear more hype than substance but what I found was well researched, common sense segments that made me think. Not only was the show about how to preserve the earth – as God intended (not that they ever once mentioned God); the show could actually help me save money. I don't know anyone who doesn't like to save money.

I saved the Forecast Earth episode entitled Solar Power and the Amish to our DVR, which by the way in my opinion, no home should be without – no home with a television that is. The story I was most interested in was about an environmentally friendly cemetery. The informative piece about the Ramsey Creek Preserve was very helpful to me on a personal level.

My mother wants to be cremated, a practice I detest because of references in the bible and the representation of fire and it's uses. My father's entire family is buried at Sharon Hollow Cemetery, near Stockbridge, MI. A simple, yet quiet, dignified place, where I always felt welcome to come and lumber about, while talking to my brother, daddy and the others.

I recall how expensive daddy's funeral was and the thought of putting my family through a huge expense like that is hard to fathom. Who can afford life insurance these days?

Ramsey Creek Preserve was everything good a funeral and death should be. It actually made me feel good about leaving this earth to meet my maker. Instead of embalming fluid, vaults and metal caskets, bodies are laid to rest in a natural state, in a nature park, surrounded by birds, trees, flowing water, and even music on occasion. What a beautiful place for a body to spend eternity.

In doing my research on natural burials, I located the Fernwood Cemetery in Marin County. The Fernwood property is 32 acres with part of it set aside for natural burial. They have sold one hundred plots in the natural burial area and have already had fifty natural burials. Natural burial appeals to many different people and faiths. Cassity and Campbell both report having worked with religious people to whom natural burial appeals because they say it is more closely tied to how burials were done historically.

This is an idea that just makes good sense. It's a win-win situation all the way around. A natural burial makes good financial sense; it renews the land, provides more natural spaces and won't fill up anytime soon. I would love to read comments on this subject for those who have buried someone using this method or are considering it.

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Labels: burial cost, Forecast Earth, Ramsey Creek Preserve, The Weather Channel

What should you expect from a lawyer?

This morning I read a "cute" post from the Google Blog:
Yahoo! and the future of the Internet

Google's Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, questions Microsofts' integrity for making a bid for Yahoo!. Of all things, who the heck does he think he's kidding?

Google has historically bought out dozens - if not hundreds - of companies, and they usually do it 'cloak and dagger' without revealing anything publicly, if they can. The SHORT LIST of companies and products Google has bought out includes:

• Adscape
• Applied Semantics
• dMarc Broadcasting
• Deja's Usenet archive
• Dodgeball
• DoubleClick
• Feedburner
• GrandCentral
• GreenBorder
• Hello
• ImageAmerica
• Jaiku
• JotSpot
• Kalrix
• Keyhole
• Marratech
• Measure Map
• Neotonic
• Orkut
• Outride
• Panoramio
• PeakStream Technologies
• Picasa
• Postini
• Pyra Labs/Blogger
• SketchUp
• Trendalyzer
• Urchin
• Where2
• Writely
• YouTube
• Zenter
• Zingku
• Zipdash

And there are plenty more. Unfortunately, the list of Google Acquisitions can never be complete, because they do their best to prevent public disclosure of each transaction, at least until it's a done deal.

What a load!

And while that really touches a nerve, what really gets me upset is the implications made by Mr. Drummond:

The openness of the Internet is what made Google -- and Yahoo! -- possible. A good idea that users find useful spreads quickly. Businesses can be created around the idea. Users benefit from constant innovation. It's what makes the Internet such an exciting place.

So Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

So Microsoft is "bad" because they use closed source? I don't recall Google giving source-level access to their major projects, either. Maybe I missed the memo, but when was Google giving away the source to AdWords, Google Search or direct data access to their extensive data stores? When did Google decide to open their algorithm and publish the specifics?

Oh that's right. They didn't.

The difference between a desktop operating system (Windows) or desktop application (Office), versus an internet service (Google Search, Google Apps) is significant. The users of Word and Excel, or any other desktop application - whether it's open or closed source, can determine how the application functions and engineer their own imitation of it. Microsoft even spearheaded the .net language system which uses an easily reversible language construct - specifically for the purpose of interoperability and openness.

What has Google done lately? They've offered more and more means of accessing everyone elses information - often by buying out someone elses development projects, but have made no effort to publish their own source code.

If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.

What really interests Google?

One of the most telling historical acts is Google purchasing a 5% stake in AOL! America Online! Apparently it's okay for Google to invest in every media company (even those that are SO closed source they can't even discern what the "real" internet is!), buy out the rest, and "spin tales" about their opposition. "Do no evil," my @$%.

Labels: Google, Microsoft, scam, technology