while riding my bike home from work yesterday. It was still light out, because I was taking the evening off. I would be going in to work all day on Easter and get caught up, so tonight I could finally relax a small bit. I was just over a mile from home when, rounding a corner, I could see a smoky haze about a block ahead. Firefighters know when they see smoke. I slowed down on my bike, and tried not to breathe hard while riding through the murk. It really stunk, I thought, of tires. But more stuff too. I almost dialed the local dispatch to see what was burning. Turns out it's a salvage yard fire 50km (30 miles) upwind. The news called it "toxic" then neglected to say why or what to do about that.

Reminded me of Louis Black: Our government actually said the duct tape would protect you from chemical attack. How can you trust these people? 

But this time next month, I'll be looking to buy my doublestuffed oreos from the local 7-11, since it's the only air conditioned market in town, and thus serves the freshest of the packaged foods. Only I'll be riding through the smoke of trash fires, plastic and all, to get home.

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant.

Just a different kind of poison.