EXOTERIC - Information Worth Sharing: ex·o·ter·ic
-adj
1. Not confined to an inner circle of disciples or initiates.
2. Comprehensible to or suited to the public; popular.
3. Of or relating to the outside; external.

Here is a quick update on our personal situation. We are still camped out at the Sun San Diego facility in our RV. Yesterday afternoon we drove over to the Edwards Cinemaplex in Mira Mesa to catch a matinee show. The smoke was fairly strong in the air and inside the theatre it was still very breathable. Unfortunately, before the show started we were told to evacuate from there at 3pm. We got our refund and returned back to Sun. The nearby Scripps Ranch area east of the I-15 and north of Pomerado Rd. was undergoing a precautionary evacuation due to the fires spreading down from the Poway area. Back at work I spent several more hours dealing with email, listening to the radio and checking on the status of the fire from the web. We have been in contact with lots of friends over email and the phone and have been able to determine that our house in the SD Country Estates is fine. There were no fires in our neighborhood. However, the areas north of Hwy 78 in Ramona have been hit hard, along with the north Poway and Rancho Bernardo areas. This morning the fires had moved west into Rancho Santa Fe, which is fairly close to the coast line.

We currently have no way to get back into Ramona. All of the roads leading into town remain closed. It is probably better that we stay put even if we could return. The Santa Ana winds are still blowing strong and the fires could swing around and force another evacuation at any time. We had originally thought that we should head up to the LA area, but we would have been away from the local news and radio, and the traffic on I-5 (the only route open) was already jammed.

I had mentioned in a previous blog entry about a nearby weather station. Here is the data for last Sunday. You can see how the temperature, pressure and wind all picked up right after dawn. It looks like the homeowner has unplugged the computer and left as of yesterday afternoon. No more data is available.

There are now quite a few other families hanging out at the Sun offices, which remain open and available. I've been in contact with the facilities manager and I'm helping out where I can.