I went back in the house and gathered up Kate and the kids and we all went back outside to watch. It was a lot of smoke and the wind was blowing right toward us. The fire department was there within a few minutes and got things put out quickly. There wasn’t any property damage, only the damage to the grass and reeds and such. Xander and Mira enjoyed watching the firefighters work, which was why we took them out there.

Our best guess is that a kid threw a cigarette that direction and that started the fire. It was exciting, but no real harm done. It did serve as a good lesson for the kids about why you have to be careful with fire.

Kate and I were wondering if something was wrong when he wasn’t around to cover the Pope’s death. We were very sad to hear he’s sick. When I bother to watch television news anymore (it’s mostly useless these days), Pete was always who we wanted to watch. It’ll be strange not having him in the anchor chair.

As sad as it is to see him go, it’s also good to know that he’s not suffering any more.

All you need is one word, and as you can read, the pay off is huge.

Exactly how stupid do you have to be to go to prison and not tell anyone that your kid is at home alone? I would think breathing would be too much of a strain on this person’s mind for her to have made it to the point of actually having a child.

In other blackout news, we had ourselves a minor one today. The lights were out from aroud 2:30pm to around 4:00pm. Dominion Power has a cool system though. You call them and give the computer your phone number and it checks it’s records. It told me there was a major power outage in the area and gave me an estimated fix time of 6:30pm. After power was restored, an automated message called me back to check and see if the power was actually back on for us. Pretty neat overall, I must say.

Of course, like almost all Americans, I support the troops that are doing the fighting. They are all brave men and women to whom we owe more than we could ever repay.

I think Saddam is an evil man. I think he’s done horrible things to his people. I even think he’s got weapons of mass destruction hidden away. My concern comes from the large about of resistance much of the world has shown to this war.

If that many people disagree with us, could we be wrong? That’s what I have trouble deciding. I look the arguments over and I see the 12 years that we’ve tried to get Saddam to live up to his commitments to the world and I just can’t see any other way to deal with him other than to do so with force. But at the same time I see so many people who want to give him more time and I wonder if I’ve just been swayed by my own government to think what it wants me to think.

Oh the other hand, I agree with the President. We don’t need to world’s permission to protect ourselves. We see a threat, and we are going to take care of it, even if the rest of the world is unable or afraid to do so.

When it come down to it, I support the war. I think it’s something that we have to do. I think it’s most likely something that should have been done long ago. I just wish I could really understand the other point of view, cause I don’t. All I have to go by is the numbers of protesters and the hardline positions of countries like France, Germany, and Russia.

Hopefully it will all be over quickly. Hopefully we’ll be able to find the evidence we need to show that we are right. I just hope that we don’t find it the hard way.