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IGN posted the final Rock Band track list. They’re really talking up the downloadable content though, with full albums and a lot of other tracks being released down the road. It is my intention to get good enough at the game to be a double-threat, either guitar and sing like Kurt Cobain or drum and sing like Phil Collins. List after the cut, my favorites in bold.

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Things are getting back to normal here in San Diego. At least as normal as can be when over 1,000 families have lost their homes. I’ve been back at work since Wednesday. Amy’s work was in the path of the smoke for a few days of the Witch Creek fire, so she’s working from home until the cleaning crew gets the office a little less grimy. Joe hasn’t worked all week since the hotel his current job is at has been renting out even half-finished rooms to refugees. I guess the only consolation is demand for residential construction in the county will improve due to rebuilding efforts.

The fires are still going, but the air here is cool and moist from the ocean breeze. They’re getting fires under control but still threaten rural areas. One political comment: the fires started in rural areas and affected them the most. SD (being a military town) is more “red” than “blue” to begin with but there’s some real Republican hardcore in those areas like Ramona and the city areas threatened were pretty affluent (a lot of local sports and celebrities homes were lost or threatened). It’s sad to think that some people lump all who live in CA as one kind of person, but as we’ve seen from the aftermath of Katrina there’s a lot of people who will take any attention-getting event to further their agendas and cause no matter how tenuous the link.

Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts and well wishes. The firestorm was pretty different compared to the storm seasons I know growing up in the Midwest. I guess I have to move out to the Gulf Coast now to survive a hurricane to complete the weather trifecta.

There’s still a lot of dangerous fires out there, but the wind is transitioning to come from the ocean and the Santa Ana is weakening. Now the fire crews should start to be able to contain fires instead of getting out of their way. The air quality at home and work isn’t bad, but everything is covered with a fine grit that I’m sure will get annoying in the weeks to come. We’re all okay and getting back to work and back to some normal life activities. 

Doesn’t look like the wind will be dying down anytime soon. They’re now evacuating people all the way down to the coast. Here’s a link to a Google Map that shows the evac areas and places of note. We’re a little to the south and west of Mirimar Marine base. There’s no danger of any fires getting to us.

[UPDATE]: Another fire/snow day. Everyone is home and they’re asking people to stay off the roads and cell phones. It looks like the winds may be shifting which makes things more unpredictable, but we’re still in no danger. The air is a little worse than yesterday, but not bad. A friend got evaced last night so him and his 1 year old daughter spent the night. Her mom is flying back from the east coast today but in the mean time Roe has made a new friend.

Just a head’s up for friends and family outside of CA. We’re not really in the path of the San Diego wild fires, but there’s plenty of friends and co-workers that are being asked to evacuate. We’ve smelled smoke since last night around dinner. I guess as the sun comes up we’ll see where things are at and if the wind shifts. If anything happens I’ll try to post it here.

[UPDATE]: Got word that all personnel in my department should stay home unless needed. Amy’s work is covered in grime and they’re evacuating all the horses to the Del Mar fairgrounds next to there so she’s coming home. I guess this would be the opposite of a snow day?

[UPDATE 2]: Fires still raging out of control. The firefighters are basically staying out the way of the walls of flame and just cleaning up after it and containing any spread at the edges. The wind has shifted to almost straight west so the smell is gone and the air is clear here at our home. We’re fine, we won’t evacuate unless some other fire starts up.

Steam is the digital distribution system run by the Valve software developers. It’s a pretty good system, and their catalog of games goes beyond just Valve titles. Last week I bought the Orange Box for the PC (also available on X360), which contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. I already own HL2 and HL2: Ep1 so I can gift my extra copies to anyone who is using Steam. Anyone want a free game?

I’ve been travelling to San Francisco a couple of times in the last few months. That means books because nothing passes away the hours for me like reading a book. Unfortuately I was stuck waiting for a plane and wound up getting Clancy’s latest paperback The Teeth of the Tiger from the airport bookstore. What a horrible book in so many ways. I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so. Check out the reader reviews in the Amazon link.

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