Sunday, April 10, 2005

Dang it!

Now you guys know I love technology, when it makes my life easier. But there's a bunch of Bubbas who work out in the antenna farms around Britton Road and Kelley in Oklahoma City who really tap-dance on my last nerve, sometimes. This is one of those times.

These Bubbas, who dress up nice in quality suits with ties (though some are given to tossing off their jackets when they get really worked up), have all kinds of technology at their fingertips that they just can't help using. I know, I know. Their bosses spent fortunes on this stuff to "help protect life and property."

They want to make sure we know it's storming out there, and we might get hail.

Dammit!! I wish I was 5 years old again sometimes. Back then, we KNEW when it was hailing because we could feel it in our bodies. Right down to our bones we could feel the changes in barometric pressure. Our skins knew it was getting cooler and the wind was picking up.

By dang, we knew when it was hailing because WE WOULD LOOK OUTSIDE and SEE IT!

And we knew that at the end of a hail storm there was a chance of a hook that could (read that "could") cause a tornado.

But shoot, man, they're issuing this warning just as prime-time TV is starting for the evening, and the only area that's having to worry has "the potential" for hail. And this area is south of Norman, where there's nothing but acres and acres of horse farms. OK guys, make sure your horses are in the barn.

If you have to tell a horseman that, then he's not much of a horseman.

Look, if you see something like we had May 3, 1999, when we had Monster Storm tearing up the state from one corner to the other, TELL US about it. THEN you'll be saving lives and protecting property. Kudos to all of you who got us through that night and the following days. You earned every penny of overtime your bosses paid out. (So did I though, helping to present the aftermath to newspaper readers. I bet a nickle your overtime was more than mine and I'm still holding a grudge.)

Anyway. It's JUST HAIL. Excuse me -- the POTENTIAL for hail. The rain is picking up. Oooooh. Rain! Everyone hide!

Pooh. Just let me watch my TV. Put a crawler on the screen. Your big blobs of red, turning to green or blue, don't scare me. Big deal that you can tell the people on Frank Street in Norman that it's RAINING there.

Shoot. Teach them to look out the DANG WINDOW!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahem! Not just hail tonight. Some of us live near Norman and can't see hail or a tornado before it's too late. I agree the local stations go way overboard, they do have to tout their stuff, but I'd rather miss part of my show than have someone injured or worse because they didn't get the warning. For some reason, NWS missed this tornado and it was local tv putting out the warning. I was watching satellite tv and, whie I got severe storm warnings by email and weather radio, I received no tornado warnings except on a little computer program channel 4 and 9 use. I wonder what happened with NWS?

Anyway, the good news is no damage or injuries here. Choctaw had some damage but it did miss Mom and Dad's house by a couple of miles.

Chat later, dudette!

Trixie said...

That's very true, there was more serious stuff through the evening, including some tornado activity in eastern Oklahoma County. And I don't mean to discount the possible damage hail can do. It's just that they (all) started the pony show about two hours before conditions genuinely warranted that kind of coverage, IMHO. Glad you escaped harm!!

Erudite Redneck said...

They have cheapened the value of a tornado warning. Used to, it meant there WAS one. Now it means there MIGHT BE one, and that is a huge difference. And the sirens in EDMONBD went off last night because of the tornado warning for "Oklahoma County," when it was the small rotation and eventual, apparent tornado at Harrah. The technology has gotten too far ahead of practices, and that is a story.

Anonymous said...

I know what you're saying Trixie. The thing that frosts my buns is when they break in to say SNOW is coming. We know! WE KNOW! We don't need some weatherperson out there by the interstate with a gazillion dollar live truck in treacherous conditions telling us it's treacherous! Get yourself AWAY from the road! Take the gazillion dollar live truck back to the station! You have become a hazard YOURSELF!

And it's amusing when they poke a stick in the snow to show you how much is there. You can SEE how much is there. What's up with the stupid stick? It's not even a ruler.

Here locally, they will send the junior newspeople out to "chase" tornados. I think this is actionable. If my news director said, "Get in that truck and go out and get some shots of the twister." I'd respond, "Use some stock footage dufus. This isn't entertainment, this is a natural disaster."

Oh, and a local town installed warning sirens that go off at any time of day for a thunderstorm warning. They wake people up at 3am so they know there's a thunderstorm. Geniuses.