That’s the sort of place I would have hung around (and did hang around) when I was the age of many of the fire victims. Even then, I’d have always been scanning for the exit routes (though more for social reasons than smart preparedness; I was always ready to flee when things got too strange).<\/p>\n But looking at all those photos you can see why it went up so quickly and why so many didn’t stand a chance.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n On a lighter note: If you’re interested in joining a less funky but more practical group (and one less likely to go up in flames) but you don’t have the money, we still have some donated three-month memberships at the Cabal. <\/p>\n These can be used for renewals by existing members or for new memberships. Just ask. The gift memberships will go only to people who are (or pledge to be) active, friendly, useful participants in the Cabal forum. Lurkers are welcome of course, but lurkers (and non-broke people!) can join on their own dime<\/a>. And we’ll be happy to have y’all.<\/p>\n It’s a small but highly experienced group of freedomistas with plenty of practical knowhow. Fun, too. And when it comes time for renewal, don’t forget that existing members get substantial discounts.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n The other day I visited the Claire Wolfe (but not mine!) FB page<\/a> and found this photo<\/a> at the very top. A stack of my books.<\/p>\n I counted them. I was surprised. The photo shows eight titles. And the two earliest (101 Things<\/em> and Don’t Shoot the Bastards<\/em>) aren’t depicted. If you’d have asked me how many freedomista books I’ve written, I’d have guessed (off the top of my head) maybe six. It’s actually 10 and I had no idea. That’s not counting the chapters I’ve contributed to several other books.<\/p>\n Given how lazy I am, I’m quite impressed.<\/p>\n A few of those titles are available in .pdf format at the Cabal. Still need to work on getting others that I own the rights to Kindleized (Paladin Press owns many of my books, including Kindle rights). Alas, life has held too many distractions lately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We had our first snow last night. Didn’t amount to much. Barely stuck and was soon washed away by 35-degree rain. Only reason I mention it is because it’s the first lowland snow we’ve had in more than two years. It’s normal for us to get snow anywhere from one to five times a winter, but the last two winters have been too warm (not global warming but a big warm “blob” offshore). Very wet, but warm. Well, as winters go, anyhow. More snow expected in the next few days. Me, I’d chose warm and dry, were it an option.…<\/p>\n![\"oaklandghostship_120516\"](\"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/OaklandGhostShip_120516-800x450.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"oaklandghostship-02_120516\"](\"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/OaklandGhostShip-02_120516-800x450.jpg\")
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