Monday, March 19, 2007
 

BUYER BEWARE - DELL SUCKS.  DO NOT BUY DELL PRODUCTS. 

Here is a web-site in case you have any doubts

http://www.ihatedell.net/forum/phpBB2/

About time.

LIGHTNING STORM THIS EVENING AT BEAU'S HOUSE - I TOOK THIS PHOTO OUT THE BACK DOOR AT 10:15 P.M.   HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL FELL AT THE HOUSE.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
 

Getting reading to open the pool this weekend...I am sure the kids will be thrilled about that.  It looks pretty dirty though so I would imagine it will take some time to get up and running.  We cleaned out the patio today.  Washed everything down in the screened in porch area and up on the patio porch on the second level.  So we are ready for a BBQ it appears! 

Spring is definitely here.  Warm temps through next week with off and on storm chances.

So the call of the day would be a 999-999-9999 number that asked me "this is a VCI Survey and we would like to ask you two questions."  So of course I say yes...and the question was

1.  Have you seen an add for Propane in the last three months?
2.  Can you name three uses for Propane?

:)  I had to answer NO on the first question and I went with cooking, heating, and hot water heater for the second. 

I didn't win anything...but I guess he got what he wanted.  lol

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
 

http://www.flame.org/~cdoswell/career_perspectives.html

A recent revelation

A few days ago, I was at a workshop for emergency managers in Paducah, Kentucy (PAH) at the request of the local office of the NWS.  I was giving talks for their program - one about storm chasing and one about our research on the Tri-State tornado.  As a token of their appreciation for my participation in their workshop, I was given some booklets about recent devastating tornadoes in their area.  I thanked them for their gifts, and simply pushed them into my carrying bag.  Later, while waiting for my flight in the PAH airport, I took them out and began to browse through them.  In these booklets were photographs of victims killed by the tornado, along with short descriptions of their lives, which were cut short by this violent phenomenon that I find so fascinating.  I was moved nearly to tears by the time I had reviewed these booklets.  Whole families were swept away in some cases.  Children, parents, siblings, grandparents - each one a precious family member and friend to the survivors. These booklets put those faces in front of me in a way that I found very compelling.  The obvious goal of these publications is to keep the memories of those people alive, but they also serve to put faces in direct association with the statistics. I'm very grateful for this gift by the fine staff of the PAH NWS office. Thank you.

It can be difficult for the survivors to find meaning in such seemingly random events.  In one of my favorite movies - The Shawshank Redemption - the main character says (metaphorically), “I was caught in the path of the tornado.  But I didn’t think it would go on so long.”  Those unlucky enough to be literally in the path of a tornado may indeed not realize how long this event will affect them.  Even some outside of the path can be affected deeply, when the victims are friends or family members.  As I said after my survey of the 3 May 1999 tornadoes, no one can have much empathy unless we, too, have shared that horror, however sympathetic we might be.  It’s difficult to imagine any mere words that can offer much relief.  Tornadoes are not malevolent. They're simply physical atmospheric events capable of creating human tragedies if we don't all accept our responsiblities to prepare for them.

6. My newfound perspective

I got into this profession for the sheer love of storms.  I still feel that passion, but now my focus has shifted.  It’s not good enough for me anymore simply to be a good meteorologist.  Al Moller convinced me that we owe a debt to the society that supports our duties and allows us to enjoy being a meteorologist.  This involves understanding that people are deeply and profoundly affected by the phenomena that excite us.  We need to give something back to those people, and we can’t allow ourselves to be swayed from a commitment to (a) the best forecasting and/or research we can humanly accomplish, and (b) not letting it end there, but doing something beyond that to ensure that the value of our forecasting and research reached the real people who will be affected in the future.  We owe that much to the victims, and we owe it to ourselves. Petty bureaucratic obstacles never should be allowed to deter us from this commitment.

Furthermore, Joe Galway made me realize we owe much to those people who were influential in our lives - imperfect people (as we all are) who nevertheless have made a difference for us.  The way to repay that debt involves more than just giving thanks. I’ve paid homage to some of my mentors already, in another essay, but I’ve mentioned here some particularly relevant contributions from some very special people who forced me to realize a deeper motivation to excel in my profession.  We can repay the debt to our mentors only by living up to our responsibilities. Steve Weiss has reminded me that anyone in meteorology who doesn’t yet accept the responsibility to people beyond the formal confines of our job description - such a person is not really doing their job.  We all have different interests and talents, but we need to take on our mutual responsibilities in ways commensurate with our abilities, for the sake of the victims-to-come.  Among other things, this means we should seek to collaborate with specialists in other disciplines to make sure we fulfill our obligations to our users.  It’s not good enough to wash our hands of that responsibility - to publish papers or issue forecasts only, leaving the rest of our responsibility up to chance.  To do less than this is simply selfish.  I wish I had realized this much earlier, but perhaps I wasn't mature enough to understand it properly. Hopefully, this essay can awaken an awareness of responsibility in some others.

Dr. Doswell

Paducah Sunset :)

Thursday, March 22, 2007
 

Lucy also dressed up for St
Patricks Day

Friday, March 23, 2007
 

Click to read
 

Anyway...looks very stormy the next three weeks.  Off and on storm chances across the Central United States.  Our best chance for severe weather (the first round) will come towards the middle of next week...then more active weather after that.  Hard to say who will get what - this far out.  Something to watch though.