I am up after 2:00 a.m., not for gusting winds and the smell of smoke, although that is still thick in the air. This time it is the burning questions that have me wide awake.
Getting back into a semi-normal routine today feeling slightly fatigued and overwhelmed coming out of the past three hazy days of the firestorm, realizing that life really does go as soon as I opened my email this morning to an e-bill stating it is time to pay for cable, which, at this time, isn't even working. I still have to go get the payroll reports done for my day job so I can pay the bills and begin to call clients and re-arrange schedules for the employees of the spa I manage because as soot swirls down towards the earth, not too many people are signing up for facials the rest of the week.
Speaking of soot...the scrolling bar at the bottom of my screen still says the air quality in San Diego county is "unhealthy for all" and to "stay indoors." No outdoor activities for active children, elderly and active adults or those with respiratory problems. There is so much smoke and white ash flying around it almost looked like it was snowing at times. It is not just unhealthy for us but for animals and plants and our water. So, if it is so "unhealthy," why have thousands of people been evacuated to an outdoor stadium with kids makeshift playgrounds set up in the parking lot for the outdoor activities they are warning against?
The proceedings, efforts to help the evacuees in terms of supplies and getting them information they need are really going great at Qualcomm Stadium. That I am not knocking and don't get me wrong, there are many things that the city is doing right. What I want to know is why the San Diego Convention Center never opened for evacuees? This is a facility in one of the safest areas of the county in terms of proximity to the fire, completely enclosed and climate controlled and large enough to house thousands of people...out of the "unhealthy for all" air.
The same can be said for the old Sports Arena, now called the IPAY One Center. This is an enclosed arena that seats thousands with a flat center area for concerts, monster truck shows and Disney On Ice. So why can't they open it up for San Diegans who have been told to pack up and go out into the soot-filled open air parking lot at Qualcomm? And why didn't anyone say something, make an indoor city-owned facility mandatory or ask the question, when they had the chance: President Bush, the Governor, the Mayor...hello-anybody home? Even Katie Couric stood at the media-friendly stadium commenting on the kids play area on this "picture perfect" weather day in sunny Southern California. What? Someone give that lady some coffee and a wakeup call!
Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe there is a good explanation or maybe the whole stadium things is just so perfect for sensationalizing a horrific situation someone just couldn't resist instead of saying thanks but no thanks, we need a place that is going to get people out of the lung, nose, throat, and skin damaging, chemical/smoke/ash polluted air and indoors! Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe the health care system knows. Maybe I should quit caring so much and just post fliers at the stadium for discounted facials.
Let's hope someone will add this to the "next time" list.