It's Just Terrible East of the Rockies

with temperatures soaring well into the three-digits and power outages to boot.

People don't realize how dependent they are on power until something like this happens.

It gets hot back there even when the temperature is in the eighties thanks to the high humidity. It "sucks" to live in an area affected by the Gulf of Mexico.

That's the biggest reason I never wanted to live back East. I will gladly put up with the remote prospect of earthquakes and volcanoes in exchange for that shit.

The East has a lot going in its favor, mainly in the areas of culture and history, though there is a lot of beauty there, too. But I was born out West and I will die here.

Perhaps not in Oregon with all of these allergies and crap, but out West just the same.

News

Horrible, just horrible, is about the only way to describe the tragedy resulting from a devastating tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri.

It may end up being the most costly tornado of all time.

Video:



A report from yesterday:

News, Etc.

This story makes me thankful I live on the West Coast and have to worry only about earthquakes and volcano eruptions.
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News

The infamous WorldNetDaily has decided to drop pundit Ann Coulter from an upcoming conference since she was scheduled to speak at a gay Republican event next month.

The "right-wing Judy Garland" remark made by the gay group is pretty funny.
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James Auchincloss, related to the Kennedy family by osmosis, will spend 30 days in jail for sex crimes.
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The weather was something else in the Rogue Valley yesterday.
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I am Glad I Stayed Indoors Today

The hailstones were mighty wicked:

Oh, My God.

I am glad I am up here in Medford, Oregon, rather than in Reno this weekend. It snowed like gangbusters there.

In some areas there was up to two feet of snow. However in Truckee, California, it snowed only about one inch.

The Temperature Got to Below Zero

last night and is still either 1 or 3 below right now, though the local paper says the "real feel" is 10 above.

I had to go out and get Tony from outside because he wanted to stay out there and piddle around, but it was just too cold for dogs.

Weather Shit

There was a lot of snow shit in the Portland area, and people are trying to dig out of it.

In Reno it was the same thing, with the city having a white Christmas yesterday. I was lucky to have left when I did, even if it meant going without sleep for 28 hours, which I made up yesterday and last night.

I have some pictures I took of the Christmas tree and presents over at Rick and Sherry's place, but I don't know where in the hell on my brothers computer I stored the pictures. I'll have to get help from him when he returns in a couple of hours or so.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Christmas so my nephew's son and his family can be there.

Weather Crap

There has been no new snow as of yet in my neck of the woods, but the wind gusts are very, very high. I'd say they are at least 50 mph and probably more than that.

In other words, it's yet another day to stay inside.

Weather Crap

Right now it is a very hot 6 degrees outside. Northern Nevada is supposed to get a couple more days of this crap before "warming" up to highs of in the 40s and lows in the 20s.

Around 3 inches or so of snow hit Las Vegas of all places, the most the city has had in 30 years.
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The Weather

It is absolutely colder than anything outside. The paper says it is 8 degrees, while my weather widget on the sidebar says 7. There is talk the weather could hit below zero for the first time since 1990 or 1991. I was ready to hang it up then.

It's too cold to take the "kids" out for a walk. I have to put sweaters on them so they can go outside and relieve themselves.

That's the worst thing about getting snow here. Once it hits the ground, it gets very, very cold for a few days afterwards. The forecast is for more of this shit Thursday and Friday.

Miscellaneous

All but four of the dogs a Spanish Springs woman saved from death have been adopted.

There were 27 dogs in all.

Update: There are five left, and the husband knows about it.
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I am not ready for below-zero temperatures.
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Ashland, Oregon, considers a proposal that uniforms worn by police, firefighters, etc., are not made in sweatshops.
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Oregon's jobless figures are the highest in five years.
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Nevada PERS has also taken a hit.
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Oh, Jesus Christ.

I can't stand this.

Oh, Boy.

I might not be able to canvass for Edwards tomorrow if this shit of a storm keeps up. I went to a buffet place earlier in the day, and the streets were partly flooded.
Now it has turned to wind and snow, and it is coming down hard.

Even Tony, the Lhasa Apso who LOVES snow, doesn't want to be out there.

My Winter Break

is about to end just as it began, on a crappy note.

At least it is raining on the valley floor and not snowing--at least not yet.

Yesterday I bought the dogs a pair of beds. Sam, the Chihuahua, right away knew it was a bed, but Tony hasn't figured the bed out yet. When I went to bed last night and was watching a DVD, I heard some snoring. It was Tony, but he was sleeping on the floor and not on his new bed.

It'll take a bit for him to understand what it is for. He's used to sleeping on the couch, the chair, or the floor.

It Hit

over the century mark here in Medford, Oregon, but back in Reno, temperatures soared to 108 degrees, which is very unusual.

Needless to say, there have been fires near that part of the country, though nothing as yet on the scale of the Angora Fire, which has been contained, by the way.

At around 12:30, I will be hitting the road for the next 11 or 12 days, so I seriously doubt I will be able to access the internet at all during that time. I don't look forward to flying pretty much all day tomorrow to get to Italy, and I'll probably be squeamish as hell over the turbulence, but I do want to visit that country.