I had a good time in college.  I was too smart for high school.  The classes had been boring.  My lack of interest resulted in some very poor grades.  That rebellious attitude denied me the opportunity to attend UCLA.  Instead I attended a community college for two years and finished my college education at California State University Northridge.  I graduated in January 1962.  The university actually had the name San Fernando Valley State College then.

 

This past fall I was invited to a reunion of those early graduating classes (1958 to 1963).  The event was this past fall and was attended by about 200 people.  It was a low number considering those years saw a graduation rate of almost 1,000 people each year.  Despite that fact it was a wonderful event.  There was an inside presentation with music and photos of the old campus followed by a luncheon on a lawn.  The original bungalows that housed the school’s first classes in 1958 have been replaced with new buildings along with those that were rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

 

There was no one I recognized at the event but my wife and I had a wonderful time talking to total strangers.  She talks to strangers in the check out line in the supermarket but that’s another story.    

 

The picture above is the cover of the alumni magazine and it is slightly is distorted to fit the web site as is a picture of me on a campus tour. 

 

Los Angeles (AP) Snow snarled major mountain highways Wednesday as a new wave of winterlike weather moved through California. One person was killed in a wind-related helicopter crash and numerous traffic accidents occurred.

 

Snow shut Interstate 15 over 4,190-foot Cajon Pass east of Los Angeles (about 65 miles) and roads through the San Gabriel Mountains connecting metropolitan Los Angeles to the commuter suburbs of Palmdale and Lancaster in the high desert to the north.

  

Calen Weiss, 19, of Tarzana (a community in Los Angeles), his brother and two friends wanted to go to snowboarding at Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains but instead got stuck on I-15 in Cajon Pass for an hour as visibility fell to about 40 yards.

  

“It looks like Whoville, all snowy, but with less joy and more extreme misery,” he said by phone from the Summit Inn.

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Meanwhile the city temperature dropped to a chilly 40º.  The chances of snow falling in Los Angeles are remote.

It’s Southern California.  The only place there is snow is in the mountains.  The cities have unbelievably mild winters where 70°F temperatures are common in the winter.  The coldest winter nights seldom go below freezing  (32°F).  Today the temperature was 50°F at 8 a.m. and reached 71°F.  Most of us know how fortunate we are.  I was born in Canada.  Thanks Dad!

 

This article from the local newspaper says it better than me.

Need a reminder why we live here? Just step outside

By Susan Abram, Staff Writer

Updated: 12/01/2008 11:03:03 PM PST

If you’re feeling a little down from all the bad news lately, just look up and let the amber glow of the sun melt your worries away.

Not bad for December, huh?

It could definitely be worse. This is how The Weather Channel describes what’s about to descend on parts of the nation:

“A polar cold front howling southward out of Canada tomorrow will hurl snow and wind into Montana and northern Wyoming – a true meteorological shock …”

That’s right, howling and hurling. It’s dipping into freezing temperatures in the Midwest. That means if you leave a can of pop on a Chicago or Milwaukee sidewalk for too long, it’ll explode under pressure. Apparently, soda hates the chill, too.

And New York?

Fuggedaboutit. Step outside without layers of wool and that slice of pizza you scarfed down for lunch will give you a bad case of “agita,” Italian-American slang for heartburn.

Meanwhile, temperatures in Los Angeles are expected to take their time falling to somewhere even partially resembling winter.

The mercury will drop from a high of 80 on Monday to about 74 today.

Weather forecasters say we can expect much of the same the rest of the week across most of the San Fernando Valley.

Take that, Cleveland!

susan.abram@dailynews.com 818-713-3664

The high today in Trenton, NJ is 57°F and Winnipeg, Canada is 37°F.  Here in Los Angeles the high will be about 89°F.  For the next four days the high will be at least 90°F.  It’s not always this warm in November at my house but it is one big reason we live here.  That is the reason the freeways are crowded all day long and the cost of housing is sky high even during the current downturn.

Once you have visited Southern California in the winter you too will understand.  It’s the reason I visit other parts of world in the spring.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Strangely this has not worked out in many instances.  On all visits to the Eastern United States there were heat waves in June and September.  Required business trips in the winter were cold (maybe because they were business trips).   

Despite that we are planning a trip next June to Eastern Canada.  Canadians, prepare for a heat wave next June.

The Santa Ana winds blow through mountain passes and canyon bordering on the northern side of the San Fernando Valley.  Porter Ranch is one of seven or eight communities that are impacted every year.  Those same winds cut through hills adjacent to Malibu with the same devastating effect.  This is not a new phenomenon.

  

 

The solution is to not build anything in those areas most impacted. However, you know Californians.  We just won’t listen to reason.  Most of the San Fernando Valley is covered with a blanket of smoke.  Mostly we love the climate.  It’s part of the price we pay for our mild climate.

 

Most of us, including my family, are on the Valley floor.  We heard lots of sirens and saw lots of fire trucks.  Thanks to our brave fire crews we are safe.