OH MY GAWD!! It's Coming!!

Sunny - Hi 64 Lo 46 for Baghdad, Iraq
Cloudy - Hi 32 Lo 28 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Born to Hum, Erin McKeown

I actually heard Erin McKeown for the first time on Hugh Hewitt's show a while back and ever since I was hooked. She has a quirky voice and music that can't really be nicely categorized. The link takes you to her website and there you will be introduced to more of her music. Enjoy.

Ramble:

So, I've started back on my research of terrorist organizations and should start posting in the next couple of weeks. And I bet you thought I forgot....
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I don't have much this week... Snow in this part of the world really throws a wrench in the works. One of the things that happens here (Cincinnati - AKA the tri-state area--- Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana, and Southwestern Ohio) is that topic becomes the single focus of all thought, activity, and conversation.

A few things you should know if you are traveling to this area during a snowfall... Mind you, we had about 6 inches of snow this past Tuesday.

First of all, the local television and radio stations will lament over the pending doom for at least 48 hours prior to the "disastrous" weather. And not wanting to be undermined by the other stations, there is a bit of oneupmanship that occurs (which reminds me of a Monty Python skit from Flying Circus- "We used to live in a shoebox in the middle of the road." -"Well we used to get up half an hour before we went to bed" -too obscure, huh?). The weathermen will interrupt normally scheduled programs to bring you the latest from Doppler 75,000 where it shows the cloud mass slowly making it's way to us.... This in turn will instantly send the masses into a frenzy of which you must run to the store and buy the following: bread, milk, toilet paper. I still have to wonder what folks are making with these ingredients... Whatever it is, I hope they don't invite me over for dinner... Please note: no one is going to the gas station to fill their cars... this is because we want to be able to discuss fuel line freeze ups and running out of gas on the highway during the snowfall at a later date.

OK... Then you have a full 24 hours where you will need to listen to us discuss the impending doom... Women at work, men at work will talk about the forecast and like the kids at home (yes, at home because the forecast of inevitable snow has caused the schools to cancel for the day-- the sun is shining...nothing on the ground but... FOR GAWD'S SAKE!! SNOW IS COMING!!!) we will wonder out loud whether or not our employers will let us leave early from work... Then the big day... the day that it is going to snow... all schools have canceled with a couple of rogue exceptions... at work there is lots of gnashing of teeth and panic. At about lunch time the snow begins to fall... it's falling about 1 inch per hour... (to be perfectly frank, that is quite a bit)... the folks at work aren't working... we are panicking!! Some souls go out at lunch and come back and report that the roads are already BAAAADDD. OH - MY - GAWD!
"It took me 20 minutes to get to the bottom of the hill!"
"Traffic is already backed up."
"I didn't see one snowplow." It's gonna be bad at rush hour, they better let us leave early!"
BLAH BLAH BLAH.

So, the City Manager of Cincinnati expressed concern and asked that all employers in Cincinnati let their employees leave early... Nice... how much money was lost? So, at about 3 o'clock my boss expressed that we too needed to hit the dusty snow covered trail... We had to evacuate the building by 4 o'clock. To hell with the customers across the nation... to hell with it all... SAFETY FIRST. I was just happy-- I got to leave work early!! WOOHOO!!

So, Tuesday what normally takes me about 25 minutes took me 1 1/2 hours to get home. Not bad considering the roads were snow covered and the cars were bumper to bumper and travelling a maximum of 15 miles per hour... For some it took 3++ hours... others pulled off and stayed at a hotel... fair enough... some roads are impassable under these conditions-- there are lots of rolling hills in this part of the country.

Snow stops completely by 9 o'clock.... snow plows and salt trucks do their thing over night.

Wednesday... back to work.... the entire day was spent swapping stories... more oneupmanship on the stories... and eyewitness reports of crazies on the road.... I saw my fair share... This is the part that drives me nuts...

"talk talk blah blah and then we ran out of gas..." (remember, we do not fill our gas tanks...)

So, yesterday we were at a car dealership and there is already a forecast on the horizon for more snow...... kill me now...............

We are a bunch of pansies.... wusses.... Have we become so weak that we can't handle a little snow? "But our taxes pay for them to clean the roads!!" OK, fine.... guess what... sometimes... hey... perhaps all the time... the government, be it local or federal... can't do for us... imagine... Sometimes mother nature has a different plan for us... ya know?

Besides, how embarrassing.... I like to think that Michael and I can fend for ourselves for a bit of time without help from mother government. I really don't like the thought of them wiping my nose or arse... What would happen if something really bad happened? Say another 9/11 or Katrina or worse? You don't think that the bad guys aren't taking notice? A little conspiracy thinking on my part? Perhaps...

So the next time you hear one of us whining in the Midwest about the weather... tell us to put a sock in it...... really.... I mean it....

photos courtesy of WCPO

Blogs and Links to Check Out This Week:

I have wanted to incorporate a post from Rich at Isn't It Rich for quite some time, but haven't found the opportunity. He wrote a great piece about a month ago that shouldn't be forgotten.

"There are those who would have you think that President Bush and the United States of America are the embodiment of evil and I would remit that those who do are the very ones who deny that evil even exists."

Read the rest here.

Housekeeping: I have updated and added some pics of my favorite blogs... check the bottom of my sidebar...

Have a great week everyone!

Born to Hum by Erin McKeown

Once in the spring of my twenty-fourth year
I had nothing to say
With a dangling promise and a terrible past
I threw all the words away
We were born to hum

You were the last in my twenty-fourth year
To make a demand of my voice
I tickled your ear and I laughed in your face
I gave you my choice
We were born to hum
We were born to hum
Hum
Hum

So as a gradual running
A kinda relief
Settles on my face
Once in a while I complain to myself
Nothing gets done
Nothing's in place

I, I would rather hum
I, I would rather hum

Hum
Hum
Hum

UPDATE 12 o'clock: The forecast of doom and gloom -- I'm sorry, I mean A WEATHER EVENT is about to take place....

WINTER STORM WATCH - Monday Afternoon Through Late Tuesday Night

Live Forecast
TODAY: Mostly cloudy, then partly cloudy. A few flurries this morning. High 31.
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy, then mostly cloudy. Low 23.
MONDAY: Cloudy. Chance of rain, snow & sleet. High 38.
MONDAY NIGHT & TUESDAY : Periods of snow, heavy at times. Snow may mix with sleet & freezing rain, especially south of the Ohio River. Significant snow & ice accumulation expected by Tuesday. Temperatures in the mid-20's.

Michael and I have to go pick up his brand new truck just as this weather event is to take place... so I may be eating my words.............. to be continued...