The success of our company depends on my performance. If I do my job poorly, our company could go broke, and all our employees could be out of work. (Lest you think I sound grandiose, there’s a number of other people at our company who can make the same statements. I’m not unique; our company depends on the efforts of a number of very talented people.)

Our products improve the quality of life for thousands of seniors across the country, and there’s other groups of people I can’t talk about yet who may also start being helped by my company. If I do my job well, their lives get better, and if I don’t, their lives don’t improve as much.

Now, this is not life-or-death. I’m not a doctor or a  pilot, and nobody’s going to die if I mess up. But quality of life is important — in the best case, our products could give a grandmother a few more months or years of recognizing her grandchildren. In the worst case, our work brings a smile and a slight lift to a senior’s day.

So those are the stakes, and I have a challenging job I care deeply about. Where’s the problem?

My crisis of confidence is that I’ve realized recently that I’m just not smart enough, and I know there’s nothing I can do to get smarter. I reached the limits of what I could do with BASH programming — so I taught myself Python, and began using that instead. Almost everything that I do involves editing text of one kind or another, on multiple platforms. After working with Vim and TextMate, I’ve settled on Emacs, and I’m working hard to master it. It’s available on every platform I use, and becoming an expert will reward the effort I put in. I spend my free time reading technical or management books, trying to improve my skills. I can make myself both more efficient and more effective. But I can’t make myself smarter.

The answer to all this is to simply to do the best that I can, accept that I’m doing the best that I can, and move on. Usually I tell myself that it’s enough to make our procedures and our product a little better every day. And usually that helps. Not tonight.

If I were to suddenly have a 100-fold decrease in my job performance, could that torpedo the company? Yes. (Again, there’s other people at work who could say the same thing.) What effect could a 100-fold increase have, both for the company and the users of our products?  Hard to imagine, but it would be significant. But I don’t see how a 100 times increase is possible for me — I’m already busting my ass to get to where I am.

I’m not beating myself up because someone else attacking the same problem could do it 10% better than I could. Someone else (I don’t know who, but let’s imagine) might do it ten-thousand times better. There’s no fixed endpoint, no race I have to finish. Part of this job is defining the endpoint, and a flash of inspiration could put it somewhere many orders of magnitude better than anything I can do.

I want to improve by orders of magnitude, and the best I can come up with is tacking on a few percentage points of improvement here and there.

Now realistically, I may not be the best, but I’m the best Dakim has, at least for my position. And Dakim would have a hard time replacing me if I left. But if there were some real rockstar to take my place (and people significantly better than me do exist), that rockstar could make my contributions look puny, and could take our product much farther than I’ve been able to.

Where does that leave me? It leaves me going to work in the morning, continuing to bust my ass and do the best I can.  And hopefully, able to forgive myself for my best being what it is.

We’re now going to be able to focus on growth and moving forward; this will remove a huge number of the roadblocks that have been holding us back.  It’s big news.

(Unfortunately for my friends, it probably doesn’t mean I’ll be spending less time at work — we’re leaping into action like a sprinter leaving the blocks.)

I’ve written an introduction to SPBS, and the reasons I’m writing it here, at http://code.google.com/p/spbs/wiki/SPBSIntroduction

My house flooded on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’ve already cleaned up twice; there’s mud on my floor right now, on Monday morning. In addition, we’re late on a big project at the office. I worked 11 hours on Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday.

And we didn’t accomplish the thing that we spent all weekend working to accomplish.

If it looks like it won’t rain for a while, I may mop my floor tonight and clean up the mud for the third time.

(Oh, and my up-hill neighbor built a sandbag dike that sent a WALL of water down past (and into) my house, knocking down a fence, covering my brick patio and a small grass lawn with a layer of mud, and killing the fish in the fishpond.)

I got my landlord (he lives next door) and we went out to investigate. There was a big pool caused by debris against one side of the house, apparently that was seeping down next to the boulder and somehow into the house. When we cleared the debries and caused the pool to drain, the water stopped pouring through the THREE INCH HOLE in my wall. (Pictures to follow.)

Now, about that boulder. There’s a BIG rock, and apparently the hippies who built my house couldn’t move or blast it, so they just built the house around it. The boulder sticks into my house and is just plastered over. (There’s actually steps in it leading up to a little reading nook.) And as far as I can tell, the boulder is the only thing holding the house up. (I asked my landlord if the house was built on a slab foundation. His response? “Are you fucking kidding? It’s sticks on dirt. A couple of cinderblocks. And believe it or not, the place is legal. It’s old enough that it’s registered as a real residence!”)

He brought over a bunch of towels, and we swept up most of the mud on the bottom floor — thus far, my second floor has been blissfully immune to water problems. (Other than a few leaks, which just sprang up.)

Oh, one more thing. When I put my ear down near the boulder, I hear the sound of rushing water. And against the hillside wall of my house. Rushing water.

If I’ve struck some kind of underground stream, can I open a bottling plant? Want to drink Topanga Water?

Update 8:46 AM: CBS’s Fire Fact Sheet (Dated 9 PM Oct 22):

AS OF 9PM
• 3,800 acres burned
• More than 200 homes evacuated
• 1,500 residents evacuated
• 10 homes and 6 businesses damaged
• 1,400 fire personnel deployed
• No injuries reported
• 10 percent containment

ROAD CLOSURES
• PCH closed northbound and southbound between Topanga Canyon and Kanan-Dume Road
• Topanga Canyon closed north at PCH
• Kanan-Dume Rd. closed northbound and southbound between PCH and Mullholland
• Las Virgenes closed at Mulholland

EVACUATIONS
• Residents in Puerco Canyon
• Residents along the beach on Malibu Road
• Residents in Malibu Colony
• Residents in Montenito
• Residents in Sweet Water Canyon
• Voluntary evacuations in Coral Canyon

EVACUATION CENTERS
• Zuma Beach Parking Lot
• Malibu High School — 30215 Morning View Drive
• Pacific Palisades High School — 15777 Bowdoin Street, Pacific Palisades
• Agoura High School — 28545 Driver Avenue, Agoura Hills
• Time Warner Marriott in Woodland Hills is offering discounted rates to displaced residents. Call Tina Firestone at 818-884-6273.

PET AND ANIMAL CENTERS
• West Hills Pet Clinic — 23333 Mulholland Drive, Woodland Hills. Call 818-222-7387
• Pierce College is taking large animals — 6201 Winnetka Avenue, Woodland Hills.
• Agoura Shelter is taking small animals — 29525 Agoura Road. Agoura Hills. Call 818-991-0071
• EvacMyPet

SCHOOL CLOSURES
• Classes canceled at Pepperdine’s Malibu campus
• All Malibu public schools
• Topanga Elementary School in Malibu
• Viewpoint School in Calabasas
• Pinecrest Schools

CANCELLATIONS
• MTA Line 534, which runs along Pacific Coast Highway
• The Calabasas Pumpkin Festival at Juan Bautista de Anza Festival Park

News there seems to be the increased acreage count and the damaged structure count.

Update 9:01 AM: News from HereInMalibu

A different mood in town today, where the staging area at the Civic Center has grown and become more organized. Firefighters from many counties tend to their rigs and their gear. Breakfast is served, even as helicopters fly over, low and loud, on their way to Pepperdine’s water source.

The roadblock between western Malibu and town is gone. The Shell station is open and selling gas. Businesses remain closed, though some storefronts have lights on as owners return.

Here’s today’s sunrise, from Bluffs Park. Huge plume of smoke from southern fires drifts across the skyline.

Update 9:12 AM: LA County Fire reports 10% containment on 3,800 acres.

Update 9:18 AM: T-CEP says Topanga Road Closure has been lifted for residents only; still closed for everyone else.

Posted 12:36 am 10-23
After many reports of Residents being denied access this evening, LACFD has verified a joint order by Fire and Sheriff’s Dept. to not allow ANY residents into Topanga, via the valley or PCH. It is unknown when this order will be lifted. We will update as soon as we can gain clarification.

Please be aware that if residents leave they may not be allowed back into the canyon.

RESTRICTION LIFTED
Updated 10-23 8:00 am: The restriction on Residents entering Topanga via all access roads has been lifted. Topanga Cyn. blvd is closed to all but Residents With Proper ID. The reason for this restriction was the Fire & Sherriffs concern that the Mandatory Evacuation areas may have been entered since patrol cars had not been adequately posted at the entry points.

Update 9:25 AM: Pepperdine Status

October 23rd, 2007 at 7:00 AM

Malibu Canyon Fire Update

Pepperdine officials have announced that classes will not be held on the Malibu campus today, October 23. Events scheduled for today on the Malibu campus have also been cancelled as the University continues to work closely with local, county, and state fire officials in response to the Malibu Canyon fire. Only critical support personnel should report for work.

All Pepperdine campuses outside Malibu remain open for classes.

All roads leading to the Malibu campus are closed at this time. Information about current road closures is available on the road condition hotline at (310) 506-ROAD (7623).

At the present time, students, faculty, and staff on the Malibu campus remain safe and it is recommended that they not leave campus.

Conditions remain unchanged since 7 p.m. last night.

Update 9:28 AM: LA Times Google Map of SoCal Fires. Their info, from Oct 22 7:30 PM

Acres burned: 3,800
Destroyed: 6 homes, 2 commercial and business buildings, church.
Damaged: 5 businesses, 9 homes damaged.
Containment: 8%
People evacuated: 1,500

Point of origin: Malibu Canyon Road at Piuma Road
Burned toward Pacific and Pepperdine University, then moved southeast.
Direction burning: Southeast
Threatened: 600 homes, 200 commercial, 100 outbuildings.
Firefighters dispatched: 1,500 firefighters
Injuries to residents: none
Injuries to firefighters: none
Time of start: 4:50 a.m., 10-21
Possible cause: Downed power lines

Update 9:32 AM: T-CEP says 15% contained; full containment expected by Friday Oct. 26. (Info as of 8:20 AM Oct 23.)

Latest update Oct 23 8:20 am:
Fire has currently burned 4400 acres, and even with increase of area since last night, the containment level is now increased from 8% to 15%. LACFD reported the perimteter of the fire is essentially the same (see below). LACFD also expects full containment by Friday Oct. 26.

Update 9:35 AM: LA County Fire reports acreage at 4400+ and containment at 15%. Good news, and matches T-CEP info from earlier. Even better news is T-CEP statement above that “perimeter of the fire is essentially the same.”

Update 9:38 AM: Good news from HereInMalibu:

I just drove from Trancas to Cross Creek and back and the city’s getting back to normal. Tancas Market is open, as is the Starbucks there. Lots of espresso, pastries and war stories. No newspapers, but people are being pretty good about sharing.Trancas Chevron, the Point Dume gas station, the 76 station near Corral, and the Chevron next to Malibu Urgent Care still closed. Shell at Cross Creek still seems to be the only game in town.

Ralphs and CVS both open. Parking lot filling up with people shopping, staring, and taking pix like the one below.

Lots of tents going up at the command center at the Civic Center, presumably so firefighters can get some sleep. Water drops continue on lingering hot spots, but scanner talk says things are close to being under control.

Some fire companies already heading south. Kern County’s convoy got big cheers and loud honks from locals driving by.

Update 9:57 AM: Lots of photos from Flickr
Check out the following for some great/horrible photos from Flickr about the Malibu fire. I’ve requested permission to post most of these on blog.sudosu.net; when I get permission I’ll post them here.

Spaceman Spiffy
Spectacular ground-level shots of fire.
Shots of fire from an airplane.
Shots of fire and helicopters from along the beach
Shots from in and around Pepperdine
More helicopter shots.
Multiple shots of Malibu fire
Malibu fire shots from a photojournalist
Photo of Malibu fire from the air.
More Malibu fire photos.

Update 9:57 AM: City Of Malibu Evacuation Info as of 9:30 AM Oct 23

The Fire Department advises that there have been no changes in evacuation information. The following evacutation orders remain in place:Mandatory evacuations: Malibu Knolls, Malibu Colony, Sweetwater Canyon, Malibu Road, Carbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa, Puerco Canyon, Rambla Pacifico, Monte Nido, Big Rock and Topanga Canyon south of Saddle Peak and Tuna Canyon, Schueren Road, Piuma Road. The evacuation route from Piuma and Schueren is Stunt Road to Mulholland to Topanga north.

Voluntary evacuations: Corral Canyon, Sunset Mesa, Old Topanaga Canyon, Hillside Drive and areas south.

Red Cross Evacuation Centers have been set up at Agoura High School and Palisades High School.

Update 9:59 AM: City of Malibu Fire Map as of Oct 23 6 AM — M, we need your Photoshop magic to interpret this!

Update 10:03 AM: News from The Malibu Times (Thanks to M for the tip — see his comment below.) Things do seem to be looking up. This one is closer to under control. Still, if you’re in a Mandatory Evac zone, GO.

Malibu fire update 8:30 a.m. TuesdayBy Jonathan Friedman, Meredith Rodriguez and Laura Tate / The Malibu Times

The Malibu fire has scorched up 4,400 acres. Flames continue to burn on the ridges of Las Flores Canyon, but are not moving down the canyon or the valley side. Fire Captain Kurt Schaefer, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said containment of the fire is now 15 percent. The Santa Ana winds were predicted to end today, but officials say they will continue through to Wednesday afternoon. Schaefer said they still expect to have the fire extinguished by Friday.

“We have a better feeling about this fire,” Schaefer said, “but we’ll have an even better feeling once the Santa Ana winds go away.

“The threat is still out there.”

Fire personnel in the area have been reduced from 1,700 to 900.

Update 10:10 AM: News from HereInMalibu

* Check out the Malibu Times’ amazing photo of a water drop.* Malibu Surfside News has this photo gallery.

* Some Fire Stats:

About 4,500 acres burned.
No injuries or fatalities.
Fire nearly 20 percent contained.
Officials peg Friday as probable date for fire, which still burns in the Las Flores are, to be completely out.
Winds, now intermittent, expected to end on Wednesday.

Update 10:12 AM: Pepperdine update from 10:00 AM

October 23rd, 2007 at 10:00 AMMalibu Canyon Fire Update

Pepperdine officials have announced that classes will not be held on the Malibu campus today, October 23. Events scheduled for today on the Malibu campus have also been cancelled as the University continues to work closely with local, county, and state fire officials in response to the Malibu Canyon fire. Only critical support personnel should report for work.

All Pepperdine campuses outside Malibu remain open for classes.

All roads leading to the Malibu campus are closed at this time. Information about current road closures is available on the road condition hotline at (310) 506-ROAD (7623).

At the present time, students, faculty, and staff on the Malibu campus remain safe and it is recommended that they not leave campus.

Update 10:13 AM: Additional NASA Satellite photo from yesterday afternoon.

NASA satellites continue to capture remarkable new images of the wildfires raging in Southern California. At least 14 massive fires are reported to have scorched about 425 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego.These latest images, captured by NASA satellites on the afternoon of October 22, show the thick, billowing smoke coming off the numerous large fires and spreading over the Pacific Ocean. Fire activity is outlined in red.

Update 10:20 AM — SUMMARY: Things appear to be looking up for the Malibu / Canyon fire. It hasn’t moved much from where it was last night, and containment figures are up. A change in wind direction means all bets are off, and there could still be houses very close to the fire that are threatened — but for everyone else, things are looking up. Fires elsewhere in the state aren’t cooperating as much, and there’s lots of bad news from those fires. The Western side of the Malibu / Canyon fire appears to be under control, and the Eastern side appears to be holding. If you are in a mandatory evacuation area, you should still GET OUT IMMEDIATELY. If you are in a voluntary evacuation area, use your own judgement based on this and other news sources, and what you can see and smell for yourself.

Update 11:06 AM: Very few updates, probably because the fire appears to be standing still. Good news from Brett in a comment on yesterday’s updates:

I just went up to the top of the hill where I live, overlooking the ridge by Stunt and Las Flores area, looks much better than yesterday, no planes, no smoke visible, winds still strong in our favor.

Update 11:30 AM: The most-excellent M superimposed the very vague Malibu City Fire Map from 6 AM today on a map with roads and etc. that we can actually read. Click the map for image size options. Full-size version here. Thanks very much, M!
This pretty much confirms what we already know. (And because the fire hasn’t moved much, this is probably still accurate.) News to me was the small area of fire BETWEEN Las Flores and Topanga, by PCH. I haven’t heard any mention of that from anyone. I’ll be updating the Google Map shortly. M said in an instant message (and I agree): “Definitely heard nothing, but it could possibly match up with the reports that lower topanga had been under evac orders for a while.”

Update 11:37 AM: Update from T-CEP stamped 11:09 AM:

Residents are now able to go in and out of the Canyon with proper ID. Restrictions will be upheld in Zone 8. There will be no traffic into Zone 8, which begins at Tuna Canyon and Saddle Peak. Both roads are closed and Sheriffs are posted.

Update 12:01 PM Updated the Google Map with the info that M provided from the Malibu City Fire Map.

View Larger Map

Update 12:14 PM: Krystal pointed me to a list of fire maps — many have been linked previously on this site, but others are new — they cover all of SoCal, focusing on the San Diego fires, as they are the largest and most serious at the moment.

Update 12:26 PM: News from T-CEP

October 23 – 12:02 PMThe smoke that Topanga Residents are currently seeing and smelling is being blown into the Canyon from other out-of-the-area fires.

Update 1:06 PM: From T-CEP

On Tuesday, October 23, at 7:00 p.m., the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the City of Malibu will conduct a community meeting to provide information regarding the Canyon Fire incident. Officials will discuss the current status and projections for lifting evacuation orders and re-opening roads. City officials, Sheriff’s Department representativea and Animal Control representatives will also be on hand to provide information and answer questions. This meeting will be held at Malibu High School, 30215 Morning View Drive.For those residents who are unable to attend the Tuesday meeting due to any remaining road closures, a second meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 24, at 7:00 p.m. at the Agoura / Calabasas Community Center located at 27040 Malibu Hills Road in Calabasas.

I won’t be there, but I’m thinking that T-CEP and other news sources will cover it. If you’re going to be there, please send me notes from the meeting to jschofield@gmail.com.

LA County Fire is reporting 22 structures damaged or destroyed in the Malibu / Canyon fire.

City of Malibu has updated road closure information:

While it is understandable that residents, business owners, and those who work in Malibu are anxious for roads to open, please note that roads must be kept clear for Fire and Sheriff’s personnel and for the many utility employees who are working to restore telephone, electric, and cable service. Please comply with road closures and stay out of the area unless absolutely necessary.Road closures: The following are “hard” road closures – closed to everyone, including residents:

* Malibu Canyon from Civic Center to Piuma
* PCH between Webb Way and Las Flores
* Schueren Road from south Saddle Peak and Stunt
* Piuma at Schueren
* Saddle Peak east of Schueren
* Tuna Canyon between PCH and Saddle Peak

PCH is open from the eastern city limits to Las Flores and from the western city limits to Webb Way. However, you will not be able to get past those points, even if you are a resident.

This information was provided by the Fire Department as of October 23 at 12:30 p.m.

Please note that road closures are subject to change as conditions change. The information provided here is based on information provided to us by the Fire and Sheriff’s Departments.

Update 1:17 PM: EXCITING NEWS City of Malibu has updated evacuation information.

Updated Evacuation Information (10/23/07 at 1:00 p.m.)The following evacuation orders remain in place:

Mandatory evacuations: Las Flores Canyon, Sweetwater Canyon, Carbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa, Rambla Pacifico, Topanga Tactical Zone 8, Top of Piuma and Schueren Road

Voluntary evacuations: None

I’ll call T-CEP to see if I can confirm that the voluntary evacuation orders have been rescinded.

Update 1:20 PM E-mail from SREWolf that I’m publishing verbatim:

Hey, your blog and maps have been very useful. However, please double check the meaning of the pink area near big
rock on the Malibu 6am map before announcing bundles of new fire
flames on your maps, you have people panicking on Topanga Online.
The pink is a different color and the boundaries are demarcated
differently than the fire area, so it probably means something
different. I called T-Cep and they have nothing for that area on
their fire perimeter map for 8am this morning. I called LACFD in
Malibu just a few minutes ago and the fireman who answered didn’t
know what the pink was, guessed that it was marking areas which are
evacuated

Also you might want to add a new symbol for extinguished fire (as
opposed to active).

Please pass this on to M as well. Thanks again for all your great
information.

I’ll look into updating the Google Map to show extinguished areas. Fire appears to be out on Western front, but I have no idea what extent of fire is at Eastern side. I’ve heard reports that it’s limited to Las Flores canyon, but I’m really not sure. If anyone has any confirmed information, please send it to me and I’ll update the map with that info. E-mail is jschofield@gmail.com.

Update 1:26 PM: Good news! I called T-CEP; they confirm that voluntary evacuation orders have been lifted. All mandatory evacuation orders continue unchanged.

Update 1:29 PM: List of County Road Closures

Updated 1:36 PM: Updated Google Map. Fires in area along PCH between Las Flores and Topanga changed from fire symbols to question marks; they seem like they’re not likely to be a fire. Removed voluntary evacuation symbols. Changed some fire symbols on Eastern side of map to green. (There is no black fire symbol.) Would love to change more red fires to green; please send info to jschofield@gmail.com. (And if I’ve missed a notice in one of the items I’ve posted that should have changed a red to green, please let me know. There’s a lot going on here; I may have missed some.)

Update 1:48 PM: M sent me an updated burn map with the questionable area between Las Flores and Topanga removed. (View in highest-detail.)

Update 2:15 PM I have updated the Google Maps page to reflect the road closures on the LA County page. Things to note: It did not mention the residents-only closure at Topanga & Mulholland. Coupled with the lifting of the voluntary evacuation from the Northern Topanga Canyon area, that’s probably correct. I took it out. Also, “Latigo Canyon Road @ Mile Marker 2.08″ is closed; open to residents only. I have no idea where mile marker 2.08 is; placement of that road closure is approximate.

Update 2:38 PM: From T-CEP: “Change: Mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted for Powderhorn and Monte Vista roads.” Google Map update shortly. Symbol for a lifted mandatory evacuation is a martini glass.
Update 5:02 PM: LA County Fire says “Direction of the fire: Holding Still.” Good news again! NASA has updated satellite imagery. The City Of Calabasas says:

At least 4400 acres burned, 15% Contained
14 structures damaged, 8 destroyed
Current fire personnel on scene: 900The fire is currently limited to hot spots in the Piuma Road and Saddlepeak Road areas. The fire is NOT yet under control and high winds are expected this afternoon which could cause larger flare-ups to develop.

The City of Calabasas also had an update on Charter Communications cable/phone/internet status:

Charter Communications crews were in Malibu early on Tuesday to begin the restoration of fiber-optic lines destroyed on Sunday by the Malibu fires. Approximately 4,000 feet of fiber were burned near a critical crossing of Pacific Coast Highway, disrupting cable, Internet and telephone service for approximately 90 percent of Charter’s customers in the community.Charter crews are now installing wire strand to support the new cable. Services will return gradually; first telephone and Internet service followed closely by off-air broadcast signals and then digital cable channel. Charter expects that customers will have service restored between 6:30 and 8:30 pm this evening.

Charter advises that there may be “pockets” of customers who remain out of service due to fire damage not evident until the majority of service is restored. If customers continue to experience service-related interruptions after this time, they should call Charter Customer Service at 1-866-499-8080.

Update 5:17 PM: I’ve changed most of the active fires to inactive (green) on the Google Map. This is based on the information that the fire remains only in the Piuma Road and Saddle Peak Road areas. Please do NOT use this map for life-or-death decisions — I’m doing the best I can with vague, non-specific, and sometimes contradictory information. For instance I suspect that the fire is concentrated around the Eastern side of Piuma, and I could mark the ones on the West side as green — but I’m being conservative for now. As Brett pointed out in a comment below, it’s far better to celebrate too late than too early.

Update 5:25 PM: T-CEP says that all of Topanga Canyon Blvd. is open!

Updated 10-23 5:18pm
Topanga Cyn, Blvd is open to all with no restrictions.However, at this time, restrictions will be upheld in Zone 8. There will be no traffic into Zone 8, which begins at Tuna Canyon and Saddle Peak. Both roads are closed and Sheriffs are posted.

Zone 8 is closed, but Topanga Canyon Blvd. does not run through Zone 8. Called T-CEP. They confirmed that they were just told that all of Topanga Canyon was open from Mulholland to PCH. They could not confirm the exact location of the currently burning areas, but said the Eastern flank was around Las Flores and Piuma. I’m leaving it burning on the Google Map for all of Piuma until I get more confirmation.

Update 6:27 PM: Holy crap! LA County Fire says, “Direction of the Fire: No active fires at this time.” Is that fire-speak for “not burning?” I sure hope so!

Update 6:33 PM: City of Malibu says “6:15 p.m. 10/23/07 – Pacific Coast Highway is now open in both directions.” Good news! But LA County still lists PCH as closed. Hmm.

Update 6:39 PMJust called T-CEP; they confirm LA County Fire’s 15% containment figure but have heard nothing about “No active fires.”

Update 7:07 PMCity of Malibu reports 75% containment. That’s far higher than I’ve seen anyone else report. (All other sources say 15%.)

Update 7:18 PM: I’m standing down. Malibu fire appears to be no longer a threat to inhabited areas; it may be out altogether. Look here for updates (and e-mail me) if things get more active; otherwise the need for minute-by-minute updates appears to be past. Thanks VERY much to everyone who helped make this site useful. My thoughts go out to people in Malibu and Topanga who lost their homes, and people in other areas of Southern California who are still battling wildfires.

Update 10:10 AM: LA County Fire says 2400+ acres burned; still 0% containment.

Update 10:18 AM: Pepperdine updated their emergency page at 9:45 AM:

All classes on the Malibu campus have been cancelled for today, Oct. 22. Only critical support personnel should report to campus via PCH south from Kanan Dume Rd. The Pepperdine graduate campuses outside of Malibu will be open and classes will be held. Only critical communication systems, such as email, Internet connectivity, and telephone services, will likely be available today.

Students, faculty, and staff members who were relocated to the Tyler Campus Center, Payson Library, and Firestone Fieldhouse were allowed to return to their dorms and on-campus residences around 2 p.m. yesterday. All have been requested not to leave campus.

All roads leading to Pepperdine University are closed.

For regularly updated information, please call the toll free emergency hotline at (888) 286-5659.

Update 10:20 AM: More news from HereInMalibu, with photos:

Deep in the canyons the fire still burns, though nothing like the infernos in Canyon Country or San Diego County. Here in Malibu we’re in the watchful, woeful mode, just beginning to absorb the changes to our little town. Winds are high and so dry, your skin stretches tight and your lips crack. PCH is clamped shut, strict roadblocks at Puerco Canyon and Kanan Road. The Civic Center is a staging area for everyone who has a hand in keeping us safe.

Update 10:24 AM: From National Interagency Fire Center:

2,400 acres at 10 percent contained. This fire is two miles north of Milibu. Mandatory evacuations were implemented in Monte Nido, Malibu Colony, Malibu Road, Sweetwater Canyon, Puerco Canyon, Carbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa, Rambla Pacifica, Big Rock and Topanga Canyon tactical zone 8. Several roads in the area are closed.

Update 10:26 AM: Another bulletin with photo from HereInMalibu:

Our fire, about 2,500 acres, is now 10 percent contained. It burns east of Carbon Canyon, though with high winds, all parts of the city remain on alert. All schools here and in Topanga are closed.

Update 10:34 AM: More news from HereInMalibu:

The major update at this time: tanker planes now fighting the fire, which burns with renewed vigor, in Carbon Canyon area.

“Renewed vigor” in Carbon Canyon area is bad for Topanga.

Update 11:26 AM: LA County Fire confirms 10% containment figure.

Update 11:36 AM: Fire Fact Sheet from Malibu City:

This information was provided by the Fire Department:

Time of Alarm: 4:55 a.m. Sunday, October 21, 2007

Acres burned: 2400 acres

Current condition: 10% contained

Expected containment time: Unknown

Firefighters assigned: 1446+

Structures burned: 5 single family dwellings, 1 church, 1 commercial trailer

Structures damaged: 9 single family dwellings, 5 commercial businesses

Evacuation status: 500 homes / approximately 1500 people

Only really new information on fact sheet is that almost 1500 firefighters are assigned to the Malibu Fire. I suspect that the evacuation count does not include people (like me!) who live outside Malibu.

Update 10:39 AM: Malibu City Evacuation Status page has more detail on where in Topanga mandatory evacuation stops and voluntary starts.

Per information from the Fire Department:

All Mandatory evacuations remain in effect. The Topanga and Sunset Mesa voluntary evacuations also remain in place. Be alert and be prepared and continue to monitor television and radio news.

Mandatory evacuations:ﾠ Malibu Knolls, Malibu Colony, SweetwaterﾠCanyon, Malibu Road, ﾠCarbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa, Puerco Canyon, Rambla Pacifico, Monte Nido, Big Rock and Topanga Canyon south of Saddle Peak and Tuna Canyon

Voluntary evacuations:ﾠ Corral Canyon, Sunset Mesa, Old Topanaga Canyon, Hillside Drive and areas south

Red Cross Evacuation Centers have been set up at Agoura High School and Palisades High School.ﾠ

Update 11:49 AM: From LA Times:

The fire was pushed by winds that strengthened early today and threatened to continue east to Las Flores Canyon, a rustic community evacuated at 3 a.m.
…

Carbon Canyon is narrow, traversed by a serpentine two-lane road. Multimillion-dollar homes are along the ridgelines.

“We’re going to have this kind of activity every time the wind kicks up,” said Edward Osorio, a Los Angeles County Fire Department inspector. “We still only have 10% containment here, which is not a heck of a lot.”

Sheriff’s deputies who had assembled in Malibu began heading out to Las Flores Canyon to warn residents of the danger.

“We’ll be going door to door,” said one deputy as he headed off in his cruiser.

More than 1,500 firefighters were battling the blaze in Malibu. On Sunday, helicopters had been especially valuable, dropping retardant. The aircraft were on the ground during the night, but some reconnaissance flights resumed this morning with full aerial attacks expected later.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Bob Goldman stood this morning on the driveway of Fire Station No. 70 at Carbon Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. Flames headed his way.

“This fire really fooled me. Last night when I went to bed I thought, ‘Ah, this fire is just going to punk around on the hillside, it’s not particularly active.’ But when I woke up this morning, I was shocked. I never thought it would reach my fire station.”

Like many fire officials, he said he was worried that the fire was on the verge of moving into nearby Las Flores Canyon, just to the east. The canyon is a designated “trigger point,” meaning that if it becomes engulfed in flames, plans call for ordering the evacuation of the 12,000 to 14,000 people who live in Topanga Canyon to the east.

I assume Las Flores Canyon is the trigger point for mandatory evacuation, because they’ve already called for voluntary evacuation of Topanga.

Other fires in the area are also wreaking havoc; they are diverting resources from Malibu to Orange County and San Diego. Appropriately, in my opinion — apparently 250,000 people have been evacuated in San Diego county.

Update 12:03 PM: According to City of Malibu Evacuation Information, Piuma Road south of Saddle Peak has been added to Voluntary evacuation list.

Update 12:05 PM: New from HereInMalibu

Cruising around Malibu this morning, the little red pickup offering a bit of camouflage amid all the red rescue vehicles.

Ralphs open and oddly empty. Firefighters resting and listening to scanners, buying something to drink. Clerks worried and heaping blessings upon us.

Here’s the clock tower next to Diedrich’s. Below that, especially ominous to a mobile home dweller like me, the melted remains of a construction trailer.

Update 12:10 PM: City Of Malibu has a not-particularly informative fire map. I can’t see road names or exactly where stuff is. My Google Map also updated, but since I can’t watch TV here, fire info not as recent. New info from Pepperdine’s emergency site:

Pepperdine University officials continue to work closely with local, county, and state fire officials regarding the Malibu Canyon fire.

At the present time, students, faculty, and staff on the Malibu campus remain safe following a brief period of being sheltered in place yesterday. All have been requested not to leave campus. All roads leading to the Malibu campus are closed. Information about the latest road closures is available on the road condition hotline at (310) 506-ROAD.

All classes on the Malibu campus have been cancelled for today, Oct. 22. All Pepperdine campuses outside Malibu are open for classes.

A decision will be made later today whether Malibu campus classes will be held tomorrow, Oct 23. Another update will be posted at 4 p.m.

Update 12:34 PM: LA County Fire has their own Google Map up. RCMurphy is posting more photos around Malibu Center.

Update 12:40 PM: Wanted to highlight this comment — see the original in the comments at the bottom of the page. This is about the City of Malibu fire map I mentioned earlier.

Did a quick photoshop superimposition of the Malibu map over a Google hybrid map, and it looks like you’d expect, based on the reports:
Malibu canyon to a little south of Piuma (northern extent); the pocket of untouched area near PCH is Cross Creek and near the Serra Retreat.

The eastern extent is past Sweetwater, nearing but about halfway between Sweetwater and Carbon Mesa.

As far as I can tell, assuming my overlay was lined up right.

Update 1:33 PM: News from HereInMalibu — Wind shift is bad news.

Upper Las Flores Canyon now in flames.

We can see lines of helicopters, which tank up at Pepperdine, vanish into the smoke as they dump water on the fire.

Noon. We feel it, see it, begin to gather on the bluff.

Wind shifts, fire shifts, and the first tiny tongue of flame appears.

Given what we’ve heard previously about fire in Las Flores triggering mandatory evacuations in Topanga, Topanga residents can probably expect to be told to leave shortly.

Update 1:42 PM: And there it is. I’m working from multiple, sometimes conflicting sources of information here — and I’m safely ensconced in Santa Monica where I can’t see anything firsthand — but it looks like all of Topanga is being evacuated. The below list includes “Topanga” (unqualified for the first time) and “Southwest portion of Topanga Canyon Boulevard.” This is timestamped 1:35 PM from the LA Times website:

The fires that swept through Malibu, Canyon Country and other parts of Southern California on Sunday forced several thousand residents to evacuate, triggered numerous road closures and prompted officials to cancel classes today at Pepperdine University and six schools in the Malibu area.

Canyon Fire in Malibu

Mandatory evacuations:

*Topanga Canyon

*Malibu Crest

*Serra Retreat

*Malibu Colony

*Malibu Knolls area

*Big Rock area

*Niedo

*Monte Nido area

*Rambla Pacifica

*Las Flores Canyon Road

*Carbon Canyon Road

*Tuna Canyon Road

*Malibu Road

*Sweetwater Canyon Road

*Carbon Mesa Road

*Puerco Canyon Road

*Powder Horn Ranch Road

*Monte Vista Drive

*Southwest portion of Topanga Canyon Boulevard

*Authorities also called for a voluntary evacuation of Corral Canyon Road and Sunset Mesa.

Those fleeing the fire were directed to two Red Cross shelters:

*Agoura High School, 28545 W. Driver Ave.; Agoura Hills

* Palisades Charter High School, 15777 Bowdoin St., Pacific Palisades

Road closures: Northbound Pacific Coast Highway at Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Southbound PCH at Kanan Dume Road. Southbound Las Virgenes Road at Mulholland Drive. Southbound Kanan Dume Road at Cornell. Las Virgenes Road at Piuma Road. Malibu Canyon Road between PCH and Piuma Road. Carbon Canyon Road at PCH. Big Rock Drive at PCH. Tuna Canyon Road at Saddle Peak Road. Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Mulholland Drive. Malibu Canyon Road at Mulholland Drive. Las Flores Canyon Road at Rambla Pacifica Road. Malibu Canyon Road at Civic Center Way. Only residents and emergency vehicles permitted on PCH between Kanan Dume Road and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

School closures:

*Topanga Elementary School will be closed today, as will Calmont School in Topanga Canyon.

*Four schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will be closed:

*Malibu High School

*Cabrillo Elementary

*Webster Elementary

*Point Dume Elementary

For more information, residents can go to Malibu High School, 30215 Morning View Drive; call the Malibu city hotline at (310) 456-9982; visit www.ci.malibu.ca.us; or send an e-mail to malibucityhall@yahoo.com

Update 2:04 PM: Just spoke with my neighbor; he has not yet been told to mandatory evacuate. Called T-CEP: Eastern front of fire has crossed Piuma and is heading towards Schueren Road. Evacuation from Zones 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 is still voluntary. (T-CEP Zone Map) I’m in Zone 6. Fire is moving in NE direction. From T-CEP Status Page:

Los Angeles County Fire: AS OF 1:14PM MONDAY OCT 22
UPDATE:
Mandatory evacuation:
Piuma (entire road)
Schueren (entire road)
Voluntary evacuation for Zone 2,5,6,7,9 and Sunset Mesa.

Update 3:21 PM: City of Malibu Evacuation Info: Topanga south of Stunt Road is now mandatory evacuation. Old Topanga Canyon is now voluntary evac.

Per information from the Fire Department:

Mandatory evacuations:ﾠ Malibu Knolls, Malibu Colony, SweetwaterﾠCanyon, Malibu Road, ﾠCarbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa, Puerco Canyon, Rambla Pacifico, Monte Nido, Big Rock and Topanga Canyon south of Saddle Peak and Tuna Canyon, Schueren Road, Piuma Road. The evacuation route from Piuma and Schueren is Stunt Road to Mulholland to Topanga north.

Voluntary evacuations:ﾠ Corral Canyon, Sunset Mesa, Old Topanaga Canyon, Hillside Drive and areas south.

Red Cross Evacuation Centers have been set up at Agoura High School and Palisades High School.ﾠ An evacuation center is also set up at Malibu High School.

Update 3:34 PM: Here’s HereInMalibu’s 3:12 PM update:

Up at the barn now, where the temp is in the 90s, but still, utterly still. Planes and helicopters dip in and out of the canyons, where a trace of smoke hangs in the sky.

Kanan Road is open, and people with local ID allowed in and out.

No gas stations open in Malibu, so conserve what you’ve got.

Update 3:46 PM: LA County Fire just upped fire size to 2700+ acres.

Update 4:20 PM: HereInMalibu says things are getting hotter — title of this photo is “wind shifts, flames appear.”

Update 4:44 PM: More news from Pepperdine:

Malibu Canyon Fire Update

Pepperdine officials have announced that it will not hold classes on the Malibu campus on Tuesday, October 23. Events scheduled for Tuesday on the Malibu campus have also been cancelled as the University continues to work closely with local, county, and state fire officials in response to the Malibu Canyon fire. Only critical SUPPORT personnel should report for work.

All Pepperdine campuses outside Malibu remain open for classes.

All roads leading to the Malibu campus are closed at this time. Information about current road closures is available on the road condition hotline at (310) 506-ROAD (7623).

At the present time, students, faculty, and staff on the Malibu campus remain safe and it is recommended that they not leave campus.

Update 4:51 PM: Di Sanders has some scary shots of the fire. I think it’s time for her to get away from wherever she’s standing:

Update 5:04 PM: This is a NASA satellite photo of the fires. The first taken at 11:35 AM; the second at 2:50 PM. Red outline shows the size of the fires at each time. Smoke plumes speak for themselves. Click the photo to go to NASA’s page on the fires.

Update 5:11 PM: Google map (not mine) showing all fires in Socal.

Update 5:21 PM: Some updates to road closures (info from T-CEP) on my Google Map.

Update 5:34 PM: News from CA OES:

Per OES staff at the Incident Command Post, the fire continues to burn and is currently at 2000 acres. There are 500 fire fighters assigned as the winds remain unpredictable.

News of note there is that there used to be almost 1500 firefighters; they’re clearly drawing down the force to take care of the other wildfires in the area. Other new news is that the burn area is up to 2000 acres.

Update 6:04 PM: More from HereInMalibu:

After a welcome afternoon lull, a sunset bout of wind. Fitful and fretful, not as sustained and scary as earlier today.

Here’s the view of Malibu’s most active fire, where a plane and three helicopters are making a final assault.

Update 6:19 PM: City of Malibu reports 2400 acres as of 5:30 PM. Also, their Fire Fact Sheet reports additional structures damaged and destroyed:

This information was provided by the Fire Department:

Time of Alarm: 4:55 a.m. Sunday, October 21, 2007

Acres burned: 2400 acres

Current condition: 10% contained

Expected containment time: Unknown

Firefighters assigned: 1446+

Structures burned: 6 single family dwellings, 1 church, 1 commercial trailer, two outbuildings

Structures damaged: 13 single family dwellings, 6 commercial businesses, 3 outbuildings, 2 classrooms

Evacuation status: 500 homes / approximately 1500 people

Update 6:23 PM: Sigh. LA County Fire now reports 2700+ acres.

Update 6:27 PM: I’m leaving work. I’ll be heading to my parents’ home to pick up my car, and will then check conditions and evaluate whether or not I can head up Topanga to clear some more stuff out of my house. (I’ve got all the REALLY important stuff — but there is some art on the walls, prints of my photos, etc. that I’d love to save. Still feel that my house won’t be in the path of the fire, but I’m much less confident than I used to be.

Update 10:54 PM: Headed up to Topanga. Had to show ID and phone bill to CHP to get past checkpoint at Topanga and Mulholland. (My ID doesn’t show my Topanga address.) Got a small load of stuff — paintings, framed photos, a few pieces of sculpture, and a bunch of clothes. Now back at the ‘rents and going to sleep. More updates tomorrow, again interspersed with work. (Hopefully with much more work.)

Update 8:44 AM Oct 23: Further updates will be posted here: http://blog.sudosu.net/2007/malibu-fire-day-3-oct-23/

I have time (can’t see flames; they haven’t crested any hills around me) so I’m packing up essentials and heading to my parent’s house. With cats, which should go over wonderfully with the parents.

I’m turning off the computers now, and taking some of them with me. I may be blogging about this later tonight; I may not. If you have my phone number, feel free to call; especially if you’re worried. If you don’t have my phone number, feel free to direct-twitter me (http://twitter.com/schof) and it will be texted to my phone.

I strongly suspect that the flames will not reach my part of Topanga. Still, I’ve said all along that if I got the call for voluntary evacuation, I would go. I’m going.

Update 9:42 PM: Safely set up at my parents’ house. Several SEVERELY pissed-off cats hiding under my old single bed. All the essentials loaded in my car, and the house fire-proofed as much as possible. (Not very.)

• Consumating.com: Free site. Lots of hipsters in their 20’s. Not a lot of women in their 30’s. Has a fun, quirky vibe that makes it a kind of fun site to hang out on, but not terribly useful as a dating site. Everyone gets a numerical rank based on their points. (I have 29 points, which puts me in 4348th place.) Relive the unpopularity of high school, electronically. (For some reason they didn’t use that as their slogan.)
• OKCupid.com: Free site. Another fun site with lots of games, quizzes, and etc., both created by editors and by other users. Slightly more oriented towards dating than Consumating, but just as filled with 20-somethings. Less of a “cooler-than-thou” vibe than Consumating. The site “gets to know you” by asking you hundreds of multiple choice questions submitted by users, and attempts to match you with people who have similar answers. Not very successfully, in my experience.
• HotOrNot.com: Pay site. Triumph of the shallow. It’s all about the pictures. You get less than a paragraph to describe yourself, and the user base does not seem terribly literate. Again, mostly people in their teens and early 20’s. HotOrNot started as a site where you rate people’s “hotness” on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being highest. I signed up for HotOrNot in order to find out which of my photos were considered “hot” (or “least ugly”) so that I could use the higher rated pics on other dating sites. For that purpose, I highly recommend HotOrNot (and that part is free), but as a dating service, HotOrNot was an “eh” for me.
• Impersonals.com: Free site. Honestly, by far my favorite of all the dating sites, at least as far as user interface and functionality. And the questions they ask produced my favorite of all the profiles I’ve created. A really cool site, without a lot of BS, and with a good feel to it. The downside: At least in my area and demographic, very few people. And very few additions — it seems to be foundering. I’d LIKE to like Impersonals — but there’s just very few women (of any age) in my area, and most of them are in their early 20’s.
• PlentyOfFish.com: Free site. The MySpace of dating. Meaning it’s phenomenally popular, and phenomenally ugly. Good Lord, it’s ugly. If you care about user interface, web page aesthetics, or design of any kind, this site will make your eyes bleed. (As an example, they don’t crop pictures to squeeze them into a box, they just squeeze the picture into a box — so everyone looks either anorexic or like a sumo wrestler, depending on the aspect ratio of the original picture.) Still, it has the largest user pool of any site I’ve tried yet, and the users seem to include all ages. (I’m perfectly willing to date a brilliant and mature 18-year-old — but I think the odds of finding someone I’m compatible with are much better for women less than five years older or younger than I am.)
• Gk2Gk.com (Geek 2 Geek): Pay site. Decent enough dating site — not as gimmicky or Ajaxy as OKCupid or Consumating — fairly standard, in fact, with the exception that the people on it are explicitly looking for geeks. Since I am one, this site goes high up on my list. Niche dating sites are apparently a big draw these days. The matching is no more effective than on any other site — perhaps less so for me, because although I’m a computer geek, I’m not most other types of geek — and almost all of the questions are related to zeroing in on what geek hobbies and/or obsessions you have. Geek 2 Geek has one annoying quirk: If you edit your profile (even changing one character in the title), then people are not able to view your profile and you’re not able to send a message to anyone until your profile has been approved by Geek 2 Geek staff. Geek 2 Geek does generally approve your changes within 24 hours (even on weekends) but it’s still an annoying bit of suckage. (Unlike every other pay site listed here, Geek 2 Geek will NOT automatically renew your subscription — which is a nice bit of class.)
• Chemistry.com: Pay site. A service of Match.com, Chemistry attempts to do a “scientific” analysis of your personality, and match you up with compatible people. Their advertising targets eHarmony.com, a similar site that has some pretty distasteful limits. (For instance, eHarmony won’t serve gay people.) I have my doubts as to how effective the matching is, but the user-contact system they put in place seems to work very well. You get up to 10 “matches” a day, assigned to you by the system. If the system doesn’t assign you a match, you can’t look at them. (This is why I haven’t posted a link to my profile — as far as I know, I can’t.) You tell Chemistry if you’re attracted to each of the matches. If you say you are, Chemistry lets them know and lets them state whether they’re attracted to you. If they’re not interested in you, their name silently falls off your list of potential mates. Because of this, this is the first site I’ve seen where women will initiate contact with men in significant numbers. (On most other sites, the guy has to send the first e-mail — the sites let women initiate contact, it’s just that societal norms of men initiating contact in meatspace exist on dating sites as well.) Once you both agree that you find the other interesting, you answer some fairly meaningless questions about the importance of various personality traits by moving sliders to indicate importance. The other person does the same. Then, if both parties decide that the sliders match up enough, you take it to the next level. (I say the sliders are meaningless because — I mean really, if I rate “sense of humor” as important and she doesn’t, I’m not going to reject her. I’m going to try and find out if she laughs at my jokes and can make me laugh.) At the next stage, each party chooses two questions (from a list of a few dozen, or write your own) for the other party to answer in paragraph form. Each party reviews the other’s answers, and decides whether to take it to the next level, which is e-mail. After e-mailing back and forth, you can decide whether or not to meet in person. As I write this, it sounds HORRID — but perhaps because I’m a socially awkward geek, this computer-mediated dating really seems to work very well. It takes some of the initial awkwardness out of the introduction — and dating, online or in person, is awkward enough as it is.

I lost the first 10 or 15 pounds very quickly, in a month, without really trying. I had a variety of medical problems, and it’s amazing how quickly not being able to keep anything down (and other assorted digestive issues I will avoid mentioning) can make you lose weight. (Good doctors and being careful with myself mean that I’m fine now — no issues as long as I take care of myself.)

Once I actually saw that weight loss, though, I decided to keep going. Once my appetite came back, I actually started eating healthy portion sizes, and avoiding the really bad stuff. (Turns out those Hagen-Daz one-pint ice-cream tubs are NOT supposed to be single-serving. Who knew?)

One year ago, I weighed in at 255 lbs. (I’m 5′11″.) This morning, I weighed in at 212 lbs. I think I should probably be around 185, and I know I can (and will) get there.

All photos in the usual place.

UPDATE: Krystal’s photos here.

Here’s my bug report: (with e-mail addresses slightly mangled for publication)

WHAT I DID:
1) On Edit Profile -> Contact page, selected “Add / Remove E-mails.
2) Hit “Change” under “Contact E-mail.”
3) Select the “New Address” box and enter “root at sudosu dot net”
4) Click the “Change Contact E-Mail” Button.
5) Enter my password and click “Confirm.”

WHAT I EXPECTED TO HAPPEN:
1) I expected Facebook to e-mail a confirmation message to
root at sudosu dot net.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
1) Facebook responded with “Please enter a valid email address.”

WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM:
1) root at sudosu dot net IS a valid e-mail address, and is my primary
personal address. People searching for me will use that address, and
will not be able to find me.

And their response:

Hi John,

Unfortunately we do not support email addresses with generic
prefixes like the email you have listed (i.e. info@, webmaster@, root@
etc.). You will need to use a personal email address that does not
contain this type of prefix. Since email addresses of this nature are
typically used for organizations and businesses, we do not allow them
to be used for personal Facebook accounts. There are no exceptions
to this rule. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this policy
may have caused you.

Thanks for contacting Facebook,

Landon
Customer Support Representative
Facebook

So Facebook knows me by my jschofield at gMail address. I hope this doesn’t prevent people from finding me on Facebook.

Actually, no. When you Google for “John Schofield,” I’m WAY down on the list — not even on the first page. (Some Civil War General gets all the link love.) So now I’m John Mark Schofield, which gets a LOT more Google juice. (At this time, I’m #1 on the results.)

Things I use every day: (Just about)

• twitter.com/schof
• flickr.com/photos/schof/

Things I’m not sure about yet:

• www.friendster.com/schof
• www.linkedin.com/in/schof
• www.myspace.com/johnmarkschofield
• www.socializr.com/user/schof
• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684838741
  • Note that Facebook knows me as jschofield at gmail dot com instead of my sudosu.net address. Here’s the explanation.