Weather
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Even More Simple
We discussed what makes me very happy in the post from yesterday. However, would you like to know what makes me even happier than that?
When it happens a second day in a row!
Haha.
Hahahahahaha!
MUUHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!
I wonder if my co-workers had any time to dry their clothes out from yesterday before getting DRENCHED again today! :::hysterical laughing break:::
“Serenity, why do you want your co-workers to suffer like that?”
Because they’re idiots! And the more miserable those idiots are, the funnier I think it is.
While it was pouring rain earlier today, I laid down on my bed and pictured this scenario:
Tourists out on an airboat, going 30mph when suddenly, the skies splits open and rain like water rushing from a thousand water falls beats down on them. They scream, they look around, left to right, right to left and then up to the captain of the airboat. ‘Why is he still driving! It’s raining!’ Because you bought tickets, morons! They grab life jackets to hold over their heads, as if that actually works, goosebumps pop out all over their arms and legs because once again, they did not dress appropriately for the weather, their hair mats down to the sides of their faces and they sputter as water rolls down from their head and in to their eyes and mouth.
The tour guide semi enjoys this display but also hates the fact that he, too, is now sopping wet because of these assholes. He decides to go around one more time just to drive home a point. He eventually finds his way back to the dock where the tourists scramble off the airboat before it is even completely tied to the dock. Some slip and fall on their ass in the mud and the tour guide tells them, “I hope you break your leg!” They flee, in terror of this thing called ‘rain’ and seek shelter underneath a giant Banyan tree. After about a minute, they run to the store to buy towels, shirts and sweatshirts.
The business makes money off of the stupidity of tourists.
The tour guides? Not so much. Which is why the tour guide took them around one more time out in the monsoon. He has to get his revenge somehow and back at the dock is too late. He’s wet and cold but since none of these pieces of shit tipped him, it was worth it. But damnit all, why did it have to rain while I was working, he thinks. Some people are at home, lying in their beds, reading or sleeping. It’s just not fair.
Somewhere, not too far away, is Serenity, lying in her bed, imagining all of this and giggling her ever loving ass off.
The End.
I think I’ll go watch the traffic report now to watch all those people trying to get home in this weather.
“Oh, would you look at that? I think I can see that driver banging on their steering wheel in a fit of road rage. What’s that Mr. Driver? You just want to get home? Guess what? I’m already home! Where it’s dry, comfortable and I’m doing whatever I want and no tool shed is in a car in front of me keeping me from that. Sucks to be you!”
I’ve been giggling like a loon all day.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Simple Things
Who says you need to spend a lot of money to have a good time?
Do you know what makes me extremely happy? Brings me great joy? When tourists come out to take an air boat ride and get absolutely drenched because it begins raining, hard, while they are on tour. Especially when the weather forecast called for rain all day long. If they are too stupid to check the weather report before they come out, I will laugh, hysterically, at them.
And do you know what else brings me immense happiness?
Knowing that my co-workers are out there, as well, being slammed by the rain, sopping wet and not getting tips because the tourists blame us tour guides for the weather.
This joy is heightened when it’s my day off and I’m sitting at home, warm, comfortable and dry.
Much like I am right now.
Listening to the rain pouring against my roof and windows.
Aaaaah.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
You've Been Had
Ever since we had really cold weather here in Miami...unprecedented temperatures, (which, coincidentally, killed a lot of fish, iguana and other creatures because it was so cold for so long), I’ve been glued to the Weather Channel.
It made me feel better to watch others suffer through the bitter cold as well. Snow storms in places that don’t typically get snow storms. Massive ice storms everywhere...even in Texas, for crying out loud.
I wonder if this is that global warming that the Goracle was talking about and St. Hope and Change went to Copenhagen to discuss and then promise a good hundred million dollars a year of taxpayer money to help combat.
I cannot believe people still buy this shit. Look out your fucking window, morons. You’ve been duped. I even have people on my tours asking those ridiculous questions. “How does global warming affect the animals here?”
Couldn’t possibly tell you, idiot, because they all froze to death.
It is truly astounding how stupid people are.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Ya Think?
Let’s see...it’s winter. I wonder what happens in winter in many parts of the country. I wonder. It happens, in many parts of the country, year after year after year and has been happening for centuries. What could it be?
Wait a minute...is it...snow? Does it snow in the winter time in many parts of the country, year after year after year?
Why yes! Yes it does!
And yet, every fucking year, people act like it has never snowed where they live, EVER! “Oh my God! We got 20 inches of snow!” Oh please. That’s not even two feet of snow. Big whoop.
“Oh Serenity, how easy for you to say, you live in Miami. What the hell do you know about snow?”
I know snow very well. I’ve shoveled a hell of a lot of snow in my lifetime and I’ve walked in the snow, driven in the snow, played in the snow, skied in the snow. I grew up with way more snow and ice than these pansie whiny bitches are seeing this year. Or last year when they cried about it. Or the year before. And will whine and carry on about next winter.
Look, kids. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: IN THE WINTER TIME, IT SNOWS!! Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little but it happens EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR! But it’s always the same people moaning and complaining about the snow that comes EVERY! WINTER!
“OH MY GOD! It’s snowing! Oh you just don’t know how rough we have it!”
Funny how you never hear Montana or North Dakota or most of Washington state, (we’ll skip Seattle since they are just as bad at the whining when they see one snow flake fall gently from the sky), Oregon, northern California, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, etc piss, bitch and moan endlessly about the fucking snow.
“But they’re used to it!”
And so should the people on the east coast because they get it all the time as well. Shut. Up. about the snow.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Melting
Dear Sun:
Excuse me but what exactly is your deal this week? What is this 94.3 degrees and 5000% humidity? Did you not get the memo? It’s AUTUMN now! Go. Away! I have been extremely patient with you all summer long as you incinerated damn near everything in your site with your heat rays. My patience has run out. I’ve had enough of your scorching ass this year, it’s time to pack your bags and leave. NOW! You have worn out your welcome. Get to steppin’, Sun. Don’t come back until next June.
GO!
Sincerely,
Pile Of Burnt And Blistered Ashes That Used To Be Serenity
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Underestimated
Most of my adult life I seem to have found myself in jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry. How that happened I do not know because I really don’t like people. I guess it’s because I like to travel so this was a great way to do that for free or very low cost and because most of these types of jobs seemed fun and interesting. My current job can be fun and there doesn’t seem to ever be a dull moment.
When one deals with the public, one tends to meet some real morons and I’ve absolutely met a great number of them. However, when I first started my current job, I was told by someone who has been here 20 years, “Some of the stupidest people in the world will walk right through those doors.” Having so many years of this industry under my belt, I figured I had a pretty good idea just how stupid people can be but I have to bow down and admit that I obscenely underestimated my co-worker’s claim. I have come in contact with some of the dumbest fucking people on earth at this job.
By the way, Europe? You really need to watch what you say about us “Murricans” because you have nothing to be proud of. In fact, the few countries that have not embarrassed themselves over here are Ireland, England, Australia, (not part of Europe but included on the list anyway), Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, specifically, Holland; pretty much in that order. The rest of Europe? It’s time you took a long, hard look in the mirror.
Now. As we all know, TS Fay came to Florida and apparently liked it so much, she decided to stick around for awhile. Granted, the center of Fay moved towards the north, first to the east, now back towards the west but and this is a big, “but”, just because the center of the storm is north of here, that does not mean that we have cloudless skies and warm weather. See, there’s these things in those types of storm called “arm bands” or “feeder bands” and those can reach hundreds of miles all around the center of the storm. This is basic meteorology here. You do not have to be a weather junkie such as myself to grasp this concept. Nonetheless, this basic, 4th grade level science seems to escape many people.
So this week we are still getting whipping winds and rain because of Fay and her little arms and this week we are still getting ignorant fucks who get upset because of the weather. I state again: When you travel, one of the first things you should do is check the fucking weather in your location. Turn on the television in your hotel room as you get ready for the day and watch. You don’t need to speak English to understand the graph that shows the storm covering the entire state of Florida. You don’t need to understand English to know that clouds with lightning strikes coming out of them on the 5 day forecast means, Hey! It’s going to be fucking stormy today!
That did not stop one Russian asshole from grilling me about the weather, earlier this week. First he was pissed because it was raining. Then he was pissed because the seats on the boat were wet. (Hello, because you see that water coming out of the sky? Guess where that lands? Guess. It’s impossible for me to dry the seats of the boat because it’s fucking raining ass. HOLE! Then he wanted to know how long it had been raining. I told him it was off and on throughout the day. Well, then, he insisted on knowing the precise minutes between each break in the weather. Dude. Are you serious?
As we went along, he got more bitchy because it wasn’t perfect weather for him and his little family. He was certain I was at fault for the weather and he was determined to take it out on me the entire tour. At one point, aggravated with the conditions, he asked me, hotly, if I worked for the state. What. Are you going to write a letter to the state of Florida demanding that we shoo the clouds away when you visit? No, I do not work for the state, this is a privately owned business but the Everglades themselves, the area we are in, the 4000 + square miles, that’s all National Park. So, hmmm, I don’t know, maybe you can write a letter to GOD about the weather. Bitch to God. Or, if you don’t believe in God, piss and whine to Mother Nature.
I just love it when ignorant pole lickers start pitching fits and throwing tantrums and acting all self righteous about shit they don’t know. The two biggest complaints are about the weather and the alligators. I control neither one but it’s interesting just how many people actually believe you do. These people take it real personal if either of these two things are not to their liking.
If they aren’t bitching about the rain, they’re bitching because it’s too hot. Well, gee, you cheap bastards decided to come to the tropics in the summer. Ever wonder why your airfare and hotel rooms seemed like such a deal? NOW YOU KNOW! Dolts.
And alligators, either they don’t see enough because are expecting gangs of alligators to be swimming around, (they are solitary animals and they are territorial....alligators do not travel in packs), or the alligators aren’t “doing anything” prompting many to conclude that they are “plastique” as the French love to say. To which I turn off the boat and tell them I will wait for them while they get out of the boat, walk through the water and go pick up that fake alligator as a souvenir. Oddly enough, no one takes me up on that offer. The other thing they like to whine about is the size of the alligator.
I had one asshole on the boat this week argue with me about a 3-4 foot alligator we saw on tour. Instead of allowing everyone else to enjoy the sighting, he wanted to put a damper on it by stating, “That one is tiny. He couldn’t hurt a thing.” I told him that indeed a 3-4 foot alligator could open him up like a filet knife. He insisted I was joking, kidding, making it up, looking at me skeptically, it was bullshit, it wouldn’t hurt, blah blah blah.
Really? Ok. Then I will sit here and wait while you get your know it all fat ass out of the boat and go wrestle that wimpy alligator. Go ahead. Again, I was not taken up on my offer. Real impressed, stud.
So, to summarize: If you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about, don’t argue with the person who does. Second, do yourselves a favor and check the fucking weather before you go out. If you have a miserable time, that’s nobody’s fault but your own. Capisce, Sparky?
As for Fay, where I live it really wasn’t a big deal. Just another stormy day. I enjoyed it, of course and we did get a day off of work this week, (hurray!) that we are not getting paid for (boo!) like other companies I’ve worked for around this town but it really didn’t do a thing around here except blow a few leaves around. As for all the flooding.....it may look like a mess now but don’t go feeling too bad for the state of Florida. We needed that storm. We needed all that rain in a big way. Not just for people to water their lawns but the lake needed it because that lake feeds much of the water in to the Everglades and the Everglades needed that water like you wouldn’t believe. Florida Water Mismanagement cannot do this right so Nature needed to step in and take care of the issue.
We’ll see what happens in the next week as we have other areas of interest to look at in the Atlantic right now. Frankly, I welcome more. Even if it does mean I have to deal with more twitsicles.
By the way, the really, really crappy thing about this whole “lot of rain” business? The fucking mosquitoes. In fact, a couple of weeks before the storm and up until this time, the mosquitoes have been horrifying this year. Some times, when on tour, no one is listening because they are too busy smacking each other to kill the mosquitoes. Two times a week I have to clean an alligator pit and I am more anxious of the mosquitoes than a fricken pissed off alligator.
No, OFF! Your shit doesn’t work. Many times I have liberally doused myself in repellent and many times I have mosquitoes biting me and then buzzing in my ear to thank me for the complimentary drink before their meal. I would tell you how many bites I have except I can’t count that high.
Does anyone out there have A- blood? I may need a donation soon.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Fayke Storm
When you travel to another country or even a different state, do you or do you not perhaps check the weather, local customs, traditions, that sort of thing before you go?
Here’s a conversation I imagine taking place earlier this morning between two tourists:
Tourist 1: “Hey, there’s a tropical storm coming! It might even turn in to a hurricane!”
Tourist 2: “Oh no! We should prepare! What will we do?”
T1: “GASP! I know! Let’s go on an airboat ride in the Everglades!”
T2: “Great idea!”
Idiots.
Fucking idiots. These are people who vote.
So, there’s a storm coming. This morning the meteorologists weren’t sure if it would become a hurricane or not but were putting out all the warnings. And bright and early, we had bus loads of tourists coming out to take tours. Then bitching, pissing and moaning because they got wet and because they couldn’t see any alligators.
“Where are the alligators?!”
Oh, you mean those “stupid” animals? Yah, they’re fucking hiding from the storm. Dolts.
One carload of idiots, when told there was a storm coming, hence why we were closing early, actually asked, “What storm?”
You see that big black box in the armoire in your hotel room? That’s called a tel e vision. It gives you news and information that you need to know in the area in which you are staying. Like, say, what the weather may be like before you decide to go out on the fucking water in the middle of the wilderness during a fucking hurricane! How do these people not constantly hurt themselves every day?
So far Fay has been a bust. The reporters are all stationed at various beaches, we’ve had the obligatory showing of a puddle and a fallen palm frond, “It’s nasty out here!” And one asshole on t.v. keeps calling it “squally weather”. Shut up.
Out where I live it has rained a bit but nothing more than I’m used to from living in Seattle. The wind is next to nothing as well. In fact, this just reminds me of winter in Seattle. No big deal. You can almost see the disappointment in the on location reporters’ faces.
Now, even though it hasn’t been that big of a deal, I will tell you I’d be one pissed off mofo if I was one of those who had to stay at work because pole smokers want to go to the movies or shop around in the retail stores. If these assholes get a day off to go home and prepare, (that’s the point of the day off, not fuck around and make other people work harder), I want a day off, too. But some poor slobs are stuck catering to others simply because their bosses suck ass and won’t let them leave.
I’m not saying that the storm is bad enough to have S. Fla come to a screeching halt, I’m saying, TS and hurricanes are kind of tricky and you know they’re coming, you just don’t always know exactly where, when and what magnitude. That’s why most people get time off as it gets closer so they can get things in order beforehand just in case it does turn out to be one stormy little bitch. Yet, still, after all this time, there are people out there who will not allow the hired help to get home and do just that because they care only about their fucking bottom line. I mean, give me a break. Even my boss is reluctant to close unless there is a damn good reason and we closed early today.
Anyway, if it gets any more interesting, I’ll come back and let you know. Meanwhile, I’m going to go outside and have a beer.
update The winds have picked up a teensy bit. Enough not to make me sorry I took the “screened in porch” (tent) down after all. At first I was miffed because of the hard work. Still, the storm isn’t all that bad as I still have internet and t.v. (Both satellite.) Maybe during the night it will pick up. Like I said, I’ll get crushed in my sleep by a tree...just as long as I’m smiling by God!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
I'll Take The Rain
One thing I miss about Seattle is all the rain or cloudy days even if it was kind of that annoying misty rain. Here, when it does rain, it comes down in barrels and is usually accompanied with thunder and lightning storms so the rain here is way cooler, just doesn’t happen enough.
This year during our rainy season, we didn’t get much but lately? It’s been raining on an almost daily basis with some wicked storms and I’ve been loving it. Besides, we need that rain because without the rain, the Everglades water level gets low. When the water level gets low, mud starts to show. When mud starts to show, there’s a good chance boats will get stuck. And if that all were to be a possibility, our tours during the winter would basically suck. That’s not a good thing because the winter months is when all the blue hairs come down, tossing their money left and right....not going to be much of a good tipping season if there is no water to take them out to the actual glades. The channels are fine but the birds are out in the glades and the blue hairs love their birds.
Been studying my birds in preparation for those blue hairs. I want to impress the socks off of them and make even more tips. So, this rain we are getting? Maybe it means not many tours now, which is fine because it’s the slow season anyway, but it will mean more money later.
So bring on the rain.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Lightning Strikes Close To Home
Ok. Today we’ve been having some serious lightning storms on and off and since I do practice what I preach, I believe I was spared something drastic earlier.
I was online, writing my last post, when I started to hear the thunder getting too close. Now, I was done with that final post. I had already submitted the entry and was just going through it to ensure everything was spelled correctly and that it read well as it is a paid ad. I had forgotten to add a link and was just correcting that, had done so and was submitting my updated version when I lost my satellite connection to the internet.
Anyway, I shut everything down, turned off anything that used electricity and had just walked to the bedroom to console the kitty and the stray. (No way was I letting the stray sit out in this weather no matter what she thought about being inside.) I was looking out the window as I was walking and as I was doing so, I saw a flash of light, a LOUD crack and, AND a spark and then a ball of electricity right where my satellite dishes are....all at the exact same moment.
The first thing I did was fling myself to the ground, flat. Call it a reflex from either military days or too much time in the cities but whenever I hear a loud noise like that one? I get as low as possible. I mean, this spark and ball of electricity sizzled and snapped...right outside my window. That? Is very unsettling.
Eventually I passed out and slept for three hours and got up about a half an hour ago. I turned things back on, came back online and saw that my previous post was half gone. Half of it got eaten up somehow. I have NO idea how the hell that happened but I had to re-write the last four paragraphs. That is just weird to me.
Anyway, the point of this entry is, seriously kids, I don’t joke around when it comes to lightning and advice. Please, when you are experiencing a lightning storm, please turn things off. It can travel through pipes and lines and come right in to your house. Please stay away from windows. Please do not dance around in it outside. It can and it will strike.
A lot of people think, “Oh, only like 100 people a year die from lightning strikes.” Yes, that may be so. But think of all of those who got struck and lived. Those people suffer for the rest of their lives. Think of all the appliances that can get ruined/destroyed. Think of all those house fires that get started because of it.
The satellite dishes in my back yard have grounding wires, thank God, and that is probably what saved everything including the fact that there was nothing on for the lightning to feed on further. It can happen. That shit just struck right outside my window today. I don’t think it was a direct hit. I think what happened is that the lightning struck about 20 feet away, rode down the power lines and jumped to the satellite dishes outside. Direct hit or not, that was just too damn close for me.
When you see something like that, not 10 feet out your window, you start to realize just how serious lightning can be. So, take it from me, okay kids? I would not steer you wrong when it comes to this.
And can anyone explain how half my blog entry just up and disappeared?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Striking In The Same Place Twice
Yet again, another man was killed by lightning down here in South Florida. That makes 5 people in the last three months that have been struck and killed. (Last month it was a scuba diver as he surfaced in the water...I forgot to write about it.) This does not include all those who were struck but lived and all the homes that were struck and damaged or destroyed. People just don’t take it seriously enough.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Comes In Threes
How many times do I talk about lightning and the damage it can do....that we should take it seriously and not go prancing around outside during a storm. And how many times have I told people they shouldn’t take a shower, wash dishes, run the water, blab on the land line, keep their computer on, a/c on, etc. And, finally, how many times have I been snickered at for pointing out these little precautions followed by a snarky, “The chances of you getting struck are 1 in a...(whatever number).” Well. I’m sure these three people are feeling just a bit differently today:
Yesterday we, once again, had a pretty good lightning storm and yesterday, once again, someone did not think they needed to listen to safety precautions when it comes to lightning.
First of all, lightning struck one house and burned it causing 8 people to lose their home. (link)
Second, lightning came through the ON ceiling fan in the bedroom of another home and tore the room apart. (Video: The messy aftermath)
And third, the one who didn’t wish to listen, was struck in the face by lightning as she sat at the window watching the storm.
These all happened in the same day with the same storm.
When are people going to listen? I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen people walking around with their umbrellas in these storms, jogging, climbing on roof tops for repairs, workers not going inside, children playing in the large puddles in the streets....all the while, lightning flashing around them.
Struck. In the face. I bet she never thought it would happen to her either.
As it was in Houston, it seems that almost every storm someone else is getting struck or their house is getting struck....so, I think I might just start posting about it each time so that people will realize just how often it actually happens. Yah, sure, the odds are in your favor.....but it only takes that .02 milliseconds to destroy your life. Maybe a little precaution isn’t so funny after all.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Nature Speaks
Couldn’t think of much to write about today but nature came through and offered up a spectacle. Here is my quiet, unassuming street:
Looks so peaceful, serene, tranquil does it not? Do not be fooled! Upon closer examination, you will see this:
and
and
For approximately one hour today, the dam broke and the skies exploded forth a sudden fury of thunder, lightning and rain. I also took some video of the storm and may post it here. I have no idea if anyone is interested in that whatsoever but you can see some fools driving their cars down the flooded street. It gives you an even better idea of just how loud the thunder was and how flooded it got there. Unfortunately, neither camera nor videocam picked up the lightning. Garr!
Remember kids: Don’t play in lightning and don’t drive down flooded roads. We wouldn’t want to see you on the 6 o’ clock Evening News.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Lightning Rod
Over the past year, I have written about lightning and thunder storms and also how surprised I was to see the people here in Houston not taking the lightning seriously. I’ve seen neighbors decide to go out jogging when the storm starts, I’ve seen little kids playing in the middle of the street during these storms, I’ve seen mail carriers having a conversation outside of their vehicles while lighning flashed all around them, I’ve seen people sitting in lawn chairs in their yards while these storms carried on.
And my commenters pointed and laughed at me. Oh yes they did and I will provide them as evidence should anyone doubt it.
I submitted a link not too long ago about some workers in Katy, TX who were struck by lightning while out on a construction site during a storm.
And today I’m going to submit a link to this story about a woman who was struck by lightning while carrying an umbrella on her way to work.
She was two houses away from her own house. She had just left and was on her way to catch the bus.
Read it, all those who mocked me. Read it and start taking it seriously.
So, again, I will provide a list of facts about lightning:
1) Lightning temperatures can get as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. To give you an idea of how hot that is, the sun’s surface is only about 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Lightning can strike you up to 10+ miles away. When you see lightning, start counting. If thunder rolls before 30 seconds are up, it’s close enough to strike you.
3) Voltage is 100 million to 1 billion volts.
4) Lightning is the number two cause of storm related deaths only second to flooding.
5) Americans are twice as likely to die from lightning than from a hurricane or tornado combined.
6) The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries and a total of 1000 injuries from lightning each year in the U.S.
7) 20% of all lightning victims die from the strike.
8) 70% of survivors will suffer serious long-term effects.
9) 85% of lightning victims are children and young men aged 10-35 engaged in outdoor recreation and work activities outside.
10) 70% of all lightning injuries and fatalities occur in the afternoon.
11) Lighthing can spread out about 60 feet after “striking earth”.
Other important things to note is that lightning can travel through to your pipes and you can get struck if you are, say, at the kitchen sink doing dishes or taking a shower or whatever, you can get struck. You can also get struck if you are on the phone, (non cordless) during a storm. Stay away from windows as lightning can travel through glass.
I’m not saying curl up in a ball in the closet but I really wish people would take this more seriously.
"The danger of lightning is often under publicized and misunderstood because it usually kills people one at a time. Lightning is one of the most dangerous features of a thunderstorm.”
I bet this lady never thought she’d be struck either.
[sources: noaa.gov, lightningtalks.com, strikealert.com, stormwise.com]
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Bad Weather Makes Me Happy!
According to the NWS: We have three....THREE tornado watch boxes, a huge red splotch on the map for tornado warning and a large orange splotch representing severe thunder storms!
I’m! So! Excited!
A tornado touched down a few days ago not too far from here and while I don’t find joy in people having things damaged, my absolute LOVE for this kind of stuff makes me giddy.
And it’s just starting to come on now.....I’m off to enjoy the weather and the power of nature.
[update] Ok. I had been trying to photograph some of the spectacular lightning flashes I saw but my digital camera is way too slow, (cheap-o camera that came with my computer). I have a professional camera but that would require film development and as I do not have a dark room, nor do I know how to develop film....yet...this wasn’t going to serve my immediate purpose.
So! I went and got my digital camcorder and as I do not have a tripod for it, I held it up, patiently, waiting for the next flash. The good news is that I did capture some flashes. The bad news is, none of them were nearly as stunning as the ones I had seen earlier, (naturally).
However, as storm chasing is something I am getting ready to start doing within the next year, I have decided to start practicing at home with whatever photographic equipment I do have.
I said all that to explain that the following extremely short video clip isn’t that spectacular but it gives you a taste of the lightning I got to see and again, in time, these clips and still images will be FAR better.
Besides, Mary (Forget Your Fears), hasn’t had a good storm and the least I can do is give her a few seconds of enjoyment. (Maybe)
Flash To Bang Time Was Approximately Three Seconds
Please settle down on critiques. I didn’t put this up for critiquing, I put it up to se what I can and cannot do. Just enjoy the damn thing.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Spring Storms
We had ourselves a nice storm today here in Houston. Again, having never really spent anytime in a location that gets so much weather like this, it’s hard for me to gauge if this is a big storm to others or just something too many dismiss around here.
The weather stations, (via internet), gave out several warnings: High winds, flooding, thunderstorms, deadly lightning storms and tornado watches.
Today was the first time I’ve seen a storm in Houston but did not see anybody out walking around, jogging, etc. as if it were a sunny day. Even the mailman was late.
It’s gone away now but for a good two hours that lightning was nasty. NASTY! It cracked and ripped the air apart at least once every 30 seconds to a minute. And as usual, I followed all the rules and stayed inside, pretty much away from the windows, shut things down, did not run any water and laid here and held the cat.
I’ve mentioned this before and I gather that some people out there think it’s funny when I point out that you do not go outside when it is thundering and lightning. You simply do not.
Of course, there are still people out there who refuse to heed the warning about deadly lightning, sticking with the “100 people in the U.S. per year” statistics and consider themselves safe.
Really.
Two Men Struck By Lightning In Katy
Katy, TX is just down the road from here. (And I don’t mean, “just down the road from here” in TX terms, I mean “just down the road from here” in the terms everone else in the U.S. understands.) Two construction workers were at a site working and ignoring all the warnings from the NWS to get their butts indoors. In fact, there were several workers outside at this site at the time. They were walking on some rebar and lightning struck 50 yards away.
Rebar is the rustly looking metal...the rods (if I’m not mistaken) that you’ll see in cement if you breakt it apart.
The report says that the lightning energized the ground underneath the men. Let me teach this again: Lightning, the streaks we see from sky to ground...actually comes from the ground UP. It appears to strike down from the clouds but in reality, the initial charge is coming from the ground. Considering this, it’s a damn good idea NOT TO WALK ON METAL in a lightning storm, let alone be outside in the first place.
The guys are extremely lucky as they apparently had only minor injuries and have already been released from the hospital. Lucky. Very, very lucky.
Lightning may only kill 100 people per year in the U.S. but people really need to start taking it a little more seriously than they do. Just like with driving a car or operating machinery or anything else that can cause injury or death, use safety precautions because you never know when it could happen to you. And in the case of lightning, as the articles says, they had no warning whatsoever. Well. They did. They just didn’t pay attention because they didn’t take it seriously enough.
Monday, November 17, 2003
The Weather Today
Today we had major storms here in Houston. The lightning and thunder was intense. The thunder simply never stopped rolling for over 3 hours. There wasn’t even a second, not a single second in between thunderous crashes and the lightning cracked every 10-20 seconds. Then the rain began to fall. This is what the front looked like at 3:30pm this afternoon:
To give you an idea of how deep that is, I had to go fish the garbage can out of the middle of the street and I got soaked up to my lower calves from the level of the rain water.
Sunday, October 05, 2003
Science! Drool!
It’s hotter than Hades outside but I stood out there, (and will again shortly), sweating and grinning like a fool.
Why you ask?
Because we’ve got some crazy sheet lightning going on right now, the likes of which I’ve never seen before!
Glee!
The battery on my digital camcorder has run out as well as my professional 35mm and the digital cam is WAY too slow to capture an image. But I’ll keep trying.
Going back out!
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Isabel
Here is an excellent image of Hurricane Isabel.
This NASA image shows a view of Hurricane Isabel taken by one of the Expedition 7 crewmembers onboard the International Space Station (ISS).(AFP/NASA-HO)
All you in its path, stay safe.
