And then last night, three pieces fell from a FedEx flight onto homes and yards in Danville. The flight was carrying deliveries to Dallas-Fort Worth, but shortly after takeoff, started losing cargo.

Betten Court resident Jim Moura was watching TV Monday night when the noise came.

"I knew it was part of an airplane because they fly over the house all the time, said Moura, a retired Kaiser Industries worker and executive. "I thought it was part of the fuselage.

"So anyway I hear the 'thud.' I called a neighbor and asked, 'Did you hear that thud?' The neighbor said, 'I didn't heard a damn thing' ... then he said, ' Jim, what have you been drinking?"

He walked into his backyard, and saw the big part on the shake roof directly over his master bedroom. "I said, 'Holy cow, what is that?' "

It was 8 to 10 feet long, chest high, Moura said. "It was painted a crazy purple."

Via Contra Costa Times Executive Editor Chris Lopez's weblog, which we've been visiting to score tips on what it's like in a newsroom (thanks for the tip to that, George!).