Winter blast 2008...again

The weather here has been, well, not so good. The weather just to the south of us has been much worse. Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati, all of these cities were hit with some serious nasty last night. Some of which they said was coming our way, but did not. This is the second time in the last two months that the weather man has been way wrong. A few weeks ago we were told we were going to get a winter blast of 7 to 12 inches. The next morning we woke up to less then 1 inch and a few thousand upset children. Then again last night they said to expect 3 to 7 inches, and again this morning we got les then an inch. But that is not to say that the “storm” was not worth watching. The snow that did fall was the coolest snow I have ever seen. Perfect little individual flakes that were really thick. I put a peace of paper out and collected some on top of it just to get a closer look. The snow did not stick to itself at all, and it looker remarkable like the confetti that comes in cake icing mixes by Betty Crocker, alot like number 8 here on this web page. You could literally pick up individual flakes and look at the details for about 10 seconds, before they started to melt. Very cool

Man is greater then mother nature?

So I am watching the nightly news, as I do nightly, and they just aired a story about a recent article in Newsweek. Now I have not read the article, I am simply responding to what the news story said. Basically they said Man is a greater force then Mother Nature god like even. According to the recent story, not only is "man produced global warming gasses"(which I take issue with in the first place) responsible for drought and melting ice caps, we are also causing rivers to change there course of flow. Now I am a little educated man, But I am pretty sure that rivers meander, on there own, without mans help. And while I am on the subject I also learned somewhere once that over the 4.5 billion years that the earth has been around, the climate has fluctuated to times of extreme cold (ice ages) and times of extreme heat. I am pretty sure that man was not alive 4.5 billion years ago to help contribute to this fluctuation, and I personally believe that we are pompous fools if we believe that we are able to alter mother natures course or climate now. However that does not mean I am not pro green. Reduce, reuse, and recycle everyone.

when the wind blows

X survived his first HUGE storm today, without a single flinch. We had a tornado within 5 miles of us, Driving rain, hail, and lightning (with thunder). Then there was the storm sirens and the television screaming, a few power burps, and the dog whimpering and one of the cats running in circles with his tail the size of a bottle brush. Then i went to get some food for X, just in case we were in the basement for a long period of time, and managed to fall down the stairs do to the shock of the sound coming from the garage. I swear it sounded like the door had just been riped of and the car was being sucked out. Luckily i only managed to mangle one toe on my trip down to the basement. Then there was X. On his back in the middle of the basement floor, watching the dog and the cat and his dad run in circles, with the biggest grin on his face, and no care in the world. He is the cutest thing ever. Luckily the rain and hail and tornado passed without harming our house, But something happened in our neighborhood that brought out the cops and IFD and EMS. Right now, the streets are all clear and the boy is asleep with the wind still screaming outside. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long, no fear of storms, life.

the great blizard of 2007

or at least that is what they are calling it. So the topic came up as to what exactly is a blizzard. After a little research I found that is most often an overused inaccurate description of the winter weather outside. In truth it is when three criteria are met 1) sustained wind of 35 mph or more, 2) visibility of 1/4 mile, or less, 3) must last more then three hours. I do not think we meet this criteria, but I still want a t-shirt "I survived the great blizzard of 2007"
On a slightly different note, the news is funny... Right now (with the heavy snow falling), we have Richard Whiteout, that is Richard White out side, looking at the conditions on the north side, and Angela Longnecker (i swear they said rubbernecker) watching traffic in the south.

A winter wonder what?

Some of you are familiar with the last year’s winter debacle and the resultant purchase of snow blower. Well the past week it has been snowing and I have been eagerly awaiting the use of said blower once again. If not for the joy of throwing snow 15 feet with a mechanized spinning blade, then for the thought that some day I may get my moneys worth out of it. Well a few days ago we got about 4 inches. I woke up that morning and the walk way and driveway were already thawed considerably (or so it appeared). But there was still a light layer of snow on the concrete. I was ok with this and thought maybe next time, however I was a little confused because most of the other driveways had not began to thaw. Non the less I went on with life. Well it snowed again last night. When I woke up this morning by walkway, my driveway, and a patch in front of my mailbox were devoid of snow. Now I know that aint right. On closer examination I discovered that someone has been shoveling my snow!! Now for the confusing part, I do not know who, or why this has been done. It is nice, but I want to use my snow blower, and by the way Why could they not have done this last year, and made me not need to buy a snow blower in the first place. SO, to the mystery snowplow person I say thank you for your help, but back off, your taking away my fun.