California Burnin'

It's hard to believe we've already been here a month, but with rent due in just days, that reality is setting in.

Despite the previously posted headaches at the DMV and the limited ability to watch my New York sports teams on a consistent basis, I've loved the move thus far. This is a pretty interesting place to be and I'm learning new things every day.

With that being said, I'm not quite sure what to make of all the fires around here. From what I've heard, Monterey/Seaside is fairly safe from such activity, though we have smelled some smoke in the air from the Gloria fire in nearby Soledad. Apparently things are usually much worse in Southern California, but the Governator has declared states of emergencies in both Monterey and Los Angeles counties.

Speaking of Schwarzenegger, there's a great column/blog entry by Zennie Abraham over at the San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com) about how California's budget continues to shrink, but Arnold doesn't seem to care and the only "fire he gives off is from one of his expensive cigars, which of course are not made in California."

Abraham contends that the planned March 2010 closure of the Fremont New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant will see the elimination of 4,700 jobs, coupled with closure of the Chevron Richmond refinery (5,700 job net loss) equals more devastation in the Bay Area. The Governator's response is priceless:

"Today is a sad say in the history of Fremont as California joins the ranks of states adversely affected by the bankruptcy of General Motors and the worldwide collapse in demand for automobiles... We continue work already in progress... to ensure appropriate employee severance, proper environmental remediation and assistance in transforming the site to alternative uses."

As Abraham notes, nowhere does Schwarzenegger mention anything about finding/assisting in the job search for these TERMINATED employees. From afar in New York, I thought his entire election platform in 2006 centered around creating new jobs in California for the 21st century and making this state the environmental center of the entire country. If you've lived here for a long time, feel free to correct me on my assumptions.

Out in the field today, it was a hot one, often characterized as an Indian Summer. I canvassed a section of East Salinas that I had never been to and had solid results with nine new Democrats signing up.

CURRENT HIT TALLY

TOTAL OF 46 NEW DEMOCRATS

7 REPUBLICAN KILLS