Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A Tad Rainy In Pure Florida


The rainy tropical wave system just off the East coast of Pure Florida has been dumping rain on my family and relatives back in St. Augustine for a day or so. It's slated to slide across the state and over us as it enters the Gulf.
The satellite photos look impressive on the telly.
This is great news for swamps and ponds that are still dry or almost dry around here. The puddle that was my pond is supporting a pretty good tadpole population right now and good rains will give them some breathing room (literally) as they continue their development.
The Weather Channel stepford meteorologists say it might even do something more exciting once it hits the Gulf.
I love the Weather Channel during hurricane season, but I confess I barely watch it during our mild winters. I don't love the Weather Channel weather folks though.
They irritate me.
I just want them to report the weather, not lecture me in a first grade teacher's voice about safety.
When did we become so delicate?
The Weather Channel folks don't want us to go outside because it's too hot, too humid, too cold, the ozone is too ozoney, the rip currents are too rippy, the air is too pollen filled, the sun is too shiny .... give me a break!
Oh, and "Heat Indexes" drive me nutty too. This where they combine temp and humidity to give you a false temperature that is " what it feels like".
How the heck do they know how it feels to me or to you?
The same intense heat and humidity that I did yard work in Sunday was no big deal to me, but would feel oppressively dense to a visitor from say ... Denver, CO.
What it feels like seems to be a pretty individual thing.
Believe me I know.
I do daily thermostat battle with my lovely wife who keeps the A/C set on ICEBERG ... (some kind of grown up girl thing) while I huddle under the covers fearing frostbite.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear ya, FC. My favorite is the tag that comes on all hair dryers now saying "don't use this while standing in the shower" DUH ...

Mr Wren and I have the opposite battle. He's running around the house in shorts and tee shirt while I'm wearing jeans, sweatshirt, and the cat (who agrees with me about the temperature).

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

Our 6-inch rain gauge overflowed yesterday! I need to go out to the swamp and see what it's looking like now. Exciting stuff.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you on this one!
"When did we become so delicate"
and when it comes to the kids-oy
i am glad i grow up when we could
go out side and play and not worry about getting hurt. and if we did we sure didn't go to the hospital unless it was broke or really bleeding!
loving the rain!

Doug Taron said...

I love the term stepford meteorologists. I got interviewed by a weather channel personality last February about keeping the butterflies in our exhibit happy during the winter. It was pretty much what you'd expect.

pissed off patricia said...

We're getting the rain and the thunder too. It's dark outside and it's almost 9am. Lake O is going to love this liquid love it's getting. All the frogs in the neighborhood are singing their hearts out.

Just curious, has your home ever taken a direct hit from a big hurricane?

SophieMae said...

Come on rain!!!

My word verification today is HLLTV. LOL! At least the wx channel gal that used to say 'Pounsylvania' is gone. And don't EVEN get me started about how how 'delicate' we've gotten. When they passed the trans-fat law thingy in NY, they interviewed one guy who actually said it's the gummit's responsibility to take care of us that way. AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I am in that group that only watches the weather channel during hurricane season. And as for the weather channel people...aarghhh...Jim C. looks so out of place in a tie...now put him in the middle of a hurricane with a rain slicker...now that is cool.

Anonymous said...

It looks like no rain up here in NW Georgia for a while.

I agree with you on the heat index. My challenge would be this: If it's 90 outside and the heat index is 100, then turn up your thermostat to 100 and wait till the heat goes off. Then go outside and see if it feels like 100.

robin andrea said...

What really bugs me about the weather channel is how the personality is always standing right in front of the west coast side of the map. Hello? How am I supposed to see what weather fast approaches if that person is standing there talking about the heat index in Florida? I find the weather channel extremely east-centric. Unless we have killer storms, we barely deserve a mention.

Glad to hear you're getting that much needed rain. We've picked up a few inches too. Our tomatoes didn't like it very much.

Anonymous said...

I agree and its odd that only attractive woman can be a weather person. I usually watch the radar and make my own opinion of the weather. Or I watch Tim Deegan then plan on just the opposite. And if they can really predict the amount of Hurricanes I wish they would tell me the right numbers to play on Saturday night. We have had about 5 inches of rain in 2 days. I guess Mrs FC has been happy lately GO GATORS!!!!

Deb said...

I don't have cable or satellite, hence no Weather Channel, but the local TV stations' meteorologists (a little too diverse to be Stepford) go overboard on the advisories, watches, and warnings too. You should see how crazy they get when there's a chance that a flake of snow might fall!

Glad you're getting the rain!

SwampAngel65 said...

I agree. All that "heat index" stuff is a bunch of crap. My boss comes in EVERY SINGLE MORNING spouting what the temperature is supposed to get up to and what the damn HEAT INDEX is going to be. You're right! What it may feel like to one person ain't what it necessarily feels like for another person. It's bogus info we don't need. Let's start a "heat index" revolt! Who's with me???

threecollie said...

Thank you for airing what must be a pet peeve for many. Imagine if farmers and construction workers took to heart admonishments not to go outdoors to work in the heat. Gah!

kathy a. said...

never understood the weather channel. it is totally worthless at predicting earthquake weather.

on behalf of grown-up girls, of which i am one: DO NOT TOUCH THE THERMOSTAT. thank you.

big dorm move-in was sunday. we worked on past the "dresser" that holds no more than 3 desk drawers, and the emergency need for a 25 foot internet connection cord. daughter's roomie is a sweetheart, and they have things in common. band camp all week. best: the dorm's director got special permission to keep a dorm dog and dorm cat in her apartment!

Sharon said...

Me and TWC are on the outs. I have sent them SEVERAL emails pointing out the fact that they have no cities starting with "J" on their "local on the 8's"...they continue to ignore me. I do watch them when there's a hurricane coming though, that gets exciting :)

Sharon said...

Oh, and I'm on Mrs. FC's side with the thermostat, most definitely!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Of fc, ya finally joined the some kind of big girl thing thermostat club. Oh golly..well, hang in there, man. That's what I keep telling Mr. Mo, too.

Anonymous said...

I love the weather channel! How else do I get my chuckles? It is better than the comedy channel because there is no cursing. Well, at least most of the time.

Anonymous said...

Oh and by the way, stay away from the thermostat! We mid life women tend to violence when someone messes with our internal heat index!

On another note: just came from college night. My youngest who has always sworn he will never attend college has suddenly decided he will go after all, but he prefers an out of state private college that is big big bucks. Sigh. And there are no Florida schools that have degrees in what he is interested in, Wilderness Leadership. Can you say, student loans?

R.Powers said...

Wowsers, I hit a nerve ...


Wren,
Or the car windshield heat shields that say "remove before driving".
Gak!!

HurricaneTeen,
I thought you would be loving this.


Lori,
True. My Mom would say, "If you're going to play with the bigger boys, don't come crying to me when you get hurt."
And I didn't.

Doug,
I think they were all kindergarten teachers before being weatherpeople. They have that wide eyed sing songy cadence.


POP,
I am very happy for Lake O. and your frogs!
A direct hit? If you mean has a hurricane gone over us, yes, both here and in my childhood home in St. Augustine. I'd list them, but in 49 years, there have been a few and it would be boring, plus some would only be tropical storms I'm sure.(Dora was especially bad for St. Augustine... look it up).
In neither case was my family so foolish as to live directly on the coast of Florida, my parent's and my current home sit safely inland where the effects are less.
That is not an accident, it's called planning.
Those who live on the coast or in cities below sealevel make their own beds and I wish them luck, but that is all.

Sophie,
Self discipline and personal responsibility seem like an alien philosophy currently. We have become an entitlement society.

Danielle,
True. Is he in detention or something? I haven't seen him wet all summer.

Mark,
I like your plan. I hope rain finds it's way to your parched state too.

Robin,
I think you're right about the eastern bias. Maybe your weather is just too consistently nice??

Rick,
Um ... we won't actually complain about the attractive women thing okay?
:)
Your Tim Deegan comment cracked me up. Where is George Winterling when you need him?

Deb,
When I wrote this I thought it would be rainy here by now, but it's just a crisp, breezy 75 degrees now at 9:46 pm.
As for weather folks, I guess they all feel a need to protect us... from everything.


Swampangel,
"It's bogus info we don't need."
Amen.
I am ready to man the barricades with you!

ThreeCollie,
Apparently it is! Too funny what brings out the comments. I love this stuff.
I guess we'd all starve if farmers only worked when the weather was good.


Kathy A,
No, they don't seem to have the Earthquake forecast down yet.
Your dorm tale was so deja vu. We went on the same search for 25 foot internet patch cables.
Too funny!

Sharon,
They mentioned Jax and Flagler Beach today, but not St. Auggie.
It's a plot.


Mo,
I'm hanging.Freezing and hanging.

Cathy S,
They are good for a chuckle. Ya have to wonder what it's like to work a shift there ... lots of repetition.

R.Powers said...

Cathy S,
That second comment came through after I posted.
NO! Not out of state!! Good luck with your paper (green kind) chase.
Of course with a best selling novel and movie rights ...

Anonymous said...

Ha! Ha! I just finished telling my husband I had to find an agent SOON and get started on a second book. We both agree if this is what it takes to get this non academic child to college, we will bite the bullet and do it. He would be sooooo good at this wilderness leadership thing.

Florida Native Musings said...

Relative Humidity...thats a nice one too FC. Southern Poet Foxworthy says that's something you do with your cousin..

Anyway I too believe that the Global warming crowd has taken over WC. You can tell most of the female weather babes on there must head their own warnings about going outside, as most of them are in a constant state of being with child.

Yours in the Bond.