Month: July 2005

It appears Tropical Storm Cindy knew I wouldn’t be at home if she came knocking so she decided to go in the other direction. The latest forecast discussion from the National Hurricane Center says:

“THE STORM APPEARS TO BE MOVING DUE NORTH…AND A WEAK SHORTWAVE
TROUGH APPROACHING THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IS EXPECTED TO INDUCE A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST WITHIN 12-24 HOURS. THEREFORE THE
OFFICIAL TRACK FORECAST IS ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT OF THE
PREVIOUS ONE.”

That previous track had been to the east of where they figured the storm would go Monday afternoon, which was somewhere along the central Louisiana coast. That was after the previous forecast that it could hit somewhere along the Texas-Louisiana border.

It is somewhat disappointing. Not that I want to get a direct hit from a tropical storm, but the fact we probably won’t get any rain or temporary relief from these hellish temperatures. Do you know what you call the downside of living in Texas? July and August. But we don’t do much winter around here. That’s an upside.

For the time being, at least, I’ve installed a counter at the bottom of my blog. I don’t know how good these things are at measuring traffic. But it’s something to do. It is kind of like the highway department counting traffic.

“Yep. That’s 20,140. Yep. That’s 20,141. Yep. That’s 20,142 … “

But like the dog chasing the car, what does the highway department do with the traffic count? They make maps. And charts. And they come up with ideas of what kind of road they would build at that specific location if only they had the money — which they don’t.

What will I get from the counter? Who knows. It says I’ve had 7 visitors in the past 24 hours. That’s reassuring. Somehow. Maybe I will build a better blog using this information. Maybe I will just stay in bed.

Let’s swim out of here guys, the media is up there

You sometimes hear someone say: “The news is always negative. Why isn’t there more positive news?” Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny one. That person isn’t dealing with reality and needs to be attacked by a shark. Not really but it is kind of naive wishful thinking. You see, the news gives the public what they want. If the public wants wrecks and fires and shark attacks, the media is only happy to give those stories to them.

When sharks attack it is news. You have conflict between man (or woman or child) against shark. Sometimes man wins. And sometimes not. Why have a story about someone turning 102 years old when you can have bloody conflict? Well, when the sharks go, then is the time to find someone turning 102. But you have to work those stories pretty fast, if you get my drift. Or, if you have someone who just happened to turn 102 at the beach and she beat off a shark attack with her cane, that would work even better.

It thus was not surprising that when a school of sharks were spotted near Sea Rim State Park in our county over the weekend that the story was prominent both on television and in the daily newspaper. KFDM-TV is reporting on its Web site that another school was spotted this morning near Sea Rim. It is July 4th weekend and you figure a lot of people are going to the beach, so while you may not yet have a big story you have a big story waiting to happen.

Certainly I don’t advocate sharks attacking humans. I don’t think that even reporters are that twisted. Okay, I stand corrected. Some are that twisted. But the majority of sane people don’t want anyone to get et by a shark. Hopefully we will make it through this summer without a shark attack in Jefferson County. But if it does happen be prepared to read and hear a lot about it. ‘Cause it’s news.

Disclaimer: I am not working as a reporter for anyone right now. I am, however, receiving a hefty amount of grouper from the sharks lurking off our coast in return for my kind words about their benevolent activity.

The tropics are so depressing. Not really, but a tropical depression has caught my attention. Tropical Depression 3 as it is called could become Tropical Storm Cindy or maybe even Hurricane Cindy. It is over the Yucatan Peninsula right now. Forecasts for hurricanes can be tricky, particularly at this stage. But if it follows the path that forecasters expect the storm could within a couple of days barrel northward through the Gulf of Mexico, head up Sabine Lake into the Neches River and take a direct pathway westward down my street, walk up the stairs and knock on my door. In such a case I probably won’t be at home. But I might.

But for real, the path it might take could hit around here somewhere on either the upper Texas or western Louisiana coasts. So I am keeping an eye out. Well, I’m not really keeping an eye out. That might be gross. I am being somewhat vigilant though.

Ground Control to Major Tom: Get out before you hit that comet!

If all goes well a “Deep Impact” will take place on the Comet Tempel 1 at 12:52 a.m. CDT. Here is how NASA puts it:

“Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. After releasing a 3-by-3-foot projectile called an “impactor” to crash onto the surface, Deep Impact’s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of the resulting crater. Scientists suspect that frozen within comets are the same chemical building blocks that lead to the formation of water — and life — here on Earth.”

Frankly, I’m glad this all taking place 83 million miles away because I don’t think we are yet old hands at crashing into comets. That is unless you are talking about the Mercury car called the Comet. Deep Impact is supposed to be making a hole about the size of a football stadium. But with even with a washing machine-sized projectile it is going to be quite a bang.

I don’t know if life exists on other bodies out there in the universe. I tend to think so more than not. Just in case there are life forms out there and they can read this, I would just like to say: “Greetings from Earth. This can happen to your planet too!”

No. Seriously, we earthlings have an insatiable curiosity. And while curiosity killed the cat,(you know, furry things that go ‘meow?’)I would ask in the spirit of inter-universal harmony that you outer space dudes and dudettes not try something like Deep Impact at home. Or, more importantly, I would ask that you not try something like Deep Impact here on Earth. It might ruin someone’s day. And you wouldn’t want to do that, would you?