# I am surrouded by idiots! (Longish, but I hope it's worth it.) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963 "2007-07-08T15:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/41 "2007-07-10T15:04:15Z")
[QUOTE=LucyInDisguise] **St. Urho** : We are 7 miles ENE of Elko proper. I wasn’t here for the Sheep Fire, but the one started by a burn barrel two years ago started out just as spectacularly. I hate to see that glow on the horizon. [::shuddersagain::] Curious? Why ‘former’? Most of the firefighters I have met are pretty much addicted to the profession. [/QUOTE] I’m a paramedic now. I still do some wildland stuff on the side, but not full time. I don’t work for the Forest Service anymore, either. ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/42 "2007-07-12T00:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=St. Urho] I’m a paramedic now. I still do some wildland stuff on the side, but not full time. I don’t work for the Forest Service anymore, either. [/QUOTE] This explains much. Thanks, Lucy ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/43 "2007-07-12T01:02:07Z")
I’m surprised they even allow people to burn their trash where you’re at. Just flat-out ban it forever. That’ll help things a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/44 "2007-07-12T01:10:50Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat] I’m surprised they even allow people to burn their trash where you’re at. Just flat-out ban it forever. That’ll help things a bit. [/QUOTE] After reading **Lucy** ’s explanation of the poor soil… That’ll larn me to respond before I’ve read the whole thread. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/45 "2007-07-12T22:01:02Z")
**Lucy** , that is _awesome!_ Every once in a while I hear a story that reassures me that not all people are total retards and self serving bastards, and reading about your [Eddie Murphy] NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN [/EM] laying the discreet smackdown on your pyromaniac neighbors while the impromptu block party rages all around makes me feel all warm & cuddly inside. Perhaps there is yet hope for bringing education to the masses–education that isn’t writ tiny on the end of a bullet, that is! Great job! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/46 "2007-07-12T22:58:10Z")
Wow, $22.00 **per week** for garbage pick-up? :eek: We pay about that much **per quarter**! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/47 "2007-07-13T00:15:00Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Wow, $22.00 **per week** for garbage pick-up? :eek: We pay about that much **per quarter**! [/QUOTE] It’s not quite that bad, **Liberal** : > [@LucyinDisguise](#): > > Look, Larry, here’s 25 bucks. Call Elko Sanitation and have them bring you a trash can. For just **$22 a month** they’ll pick up your trash and you won’t need to burn it. (Bolding added) I’d also suggest that it’s quite likely that your own garbage pick-up costs are heavily subsidized by your locality, as one of the ‘invisibile’ perks you get from paying local property taxes. AIUI, my city has no charge to homeowners for trash pick up. That’s not because the trash collectors don’t need to be paid, but because the city pays for it out if their regular tax revenues. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963/48 "2007-07-13T17:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=LucyInDisguise] Before man intervened, lighting sparked wildfires would burn all across this land. Now, we fight the fires to protect property and life, but the quality of our soil and it’s ability to support domestic vegetation suffers greatly. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure about your particular corner of the US, but I do know that for many centuries, people purposefully lit large portions of this continent on fire, sometimes annually. [Anthropogenic fire](http://www.sosforests.com/?p=99) [Some article by the author of the book 1491](http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Chumash/Population.html) a book I highly recommend [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-surrouded-by-idiots-longish-but-i-hope-its-worth-it/410963.md?page=2)