Erik's Cloud 9

First of all, I said a long time ago that my blog wasn't gonna be limited to all things weather. So, I thought I'd tackle a few things I noticed in the past few days that had an impact on my gray matter. But first, to satisfy "the lawyers", I offer the following disclaimer:

THESE ARE MY VIEWS AND MY VIEWS, ALONE - AND NOT ALL OF THEM ARE "VIEWS" AS I DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THE STUFF I'M GONNA WRITE ABOUT THE MIDWEST. I DO STAND BEHIND WHAT I'LL SAY ABOUT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE - MAYBE YOU WILL, TOO, AND ONE DAY THAT MIGHT PROMPT A POLICY CHANGE. BUT, SINCE I'M FROM MINNESOTA, IT'S OFFICIALLY LEGAL FOR ME TO HACK ON THE GOPHER STATE AND ITS SURROUNDING NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST. OKAY, MAYBE NOT THE NORTH, SO MUCH. CANADA IS A WHOLE COUNTRY, AND ALTHOUGH BECAUSE OF MY FAMILY ROOTS I PROBABLY LOVE CANADA MORE THAN THE AVERAGE AMERICAN, I MEAN IT'S A WHOLE COUNTRY AND IF I OFFEND THEM IN ANY WAY THEY COULD PRETTY MUCH KICK MY BUTT OF THE PLANET - THOSE CANUCKS HAVE CONNECTIONS, DON'T CHA KNOW! ANYHOO,,, IF YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR YOU MIGHT LAUGH OR BE ABLE TO COME UP WITH YOUR OWN BETTER JOKES. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, GET ONE! IT'S 2008 AND THINGS SHOULDN'T BE TAKEN SO SERIOUSLY. ADDITIONALLY, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, THEN DON'T READ MY BLOG EVER AGAIN CAUSE I WILL MOST LIKELY TRY TO OFFEND YOU IN THE FUTURE, AS WELL!!!

So, my wife Michele came up with a great explanation of Minnesota's 4 seasons based on what she's observed in her first year of "LIFE IN MINNESOTA" (in 3-d, coming soon to a theater near you, blah, blah, blah, blah). Mind you she LOVES winter - - - NOT!!! To her, Minnesota is:

Almost Winter

Winter

Still Winter

And, Mosquito Season!

Not bad for her first try. Of course, as the mosquitos fly so goes the drone of road construction equipment. But, for the first time, considering the crosstown/35W reconstruction project that will run non-stop for years we could say that road construction has officially been elevated from a "season" to "a way of life".

Now, let the offending begin!!! This ranking that was put out about drunk driving in the midwest. True, it's not something to joke about. But the reasons for such high rates up here in the north country are worth speculating about. To refresh your memories the ranks for states with the highest number of Drunk Drivers are as follows:

1. Wisconsin                                              
                                                       

2. North Dakota

3. MINNESOTA

4. Nebraska

5. South Dakota

Alright. You might ask "Why"? Well, here are my un-scientific scientist thoughts on why all the drinking.

Wisconsin - A brewery on every corner. North Dakota - There's nothing else to do. MINNESOTA - A good way to ease the fact that taxes are high and keep going up - not to mention Fishing, Hunting, Road Construction and Winter. Did I mention WINTER??? Nebraska AND South Dakota - well, with so few people in these states it's really a per capita thing. 3 people get tipsy and that's most of the population (Sorry, Omaha).

Okay, now for the obligatory "Weather section" of the old blog - or "Blob" as I'm gonna start saying to all the techno-techies out there just to tick them off. Kind of like a "Nucelar" vs. "Nuclear", thing!

On Thursday the National Weather Service celebrated (with lots of cake and punch, I'm sure) severe weather awareness week with a Tornado Drill. Not a bad deal as we could all use the awareness and refresher course on what to do if there really is one. But, as much as I have found respect for the folks in Chanhassen, I have to question WHY they went ahead with it during a day with thunderstorms. I've never seen a Weather Service office troubled over having to postpone one of these drills because actual bad weather was moving thru there area on the day the drill was scheduled. They just pospone them to the next "non-weather" day to make sure nobody gets confused. Well, with all kinds of chatter between the Weather Service office in Chanhassen and the State of Minnesota, we STILL had a tornado drill on a day where thunderstorms were moving thru the state. They even said that in some areas it would be postponed if actual bad weather was moving thru, but not in others. ARE YOU KIDDING?! Just as we anticipated, the sirens went off and our phones and message boards were flooded with questions from people who weren't sure if it was a drill or the real thing!!! Imagine if you were in an area with dark skies and a thunderstorm and a "test" siren went off. Even I couldn't be sure if it was the "drill" or a real warning. And, if someone was getting REAL severe storms, maybe because "drill" was on their mind they wouldn't have reacted safely. C'mon Chanhassen - question the logic BEFORE next year. Running a drill when the weather you are drilling about is already in the area will only confuse. It would have been simple and respectable to move the drill to a nice day, but keeping a drill on a stormy day can only cause confusion, and possibly danger if someone was to panic and lose control.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Don't forget, you can always comment on the blog page or email me at erik.maitland@foxtv.com .

From Cloud9,

Erik