Greetings from the Boro;
In case you're intrigue by the title of this blog here's a disclaimer; you're gonna see it every time I do a blog where I'm on a rant.
I was at work today listening to The Midday 180 on WGFX-FM 104.5 one of at least two sports talk radio stations in Nashville; they do a weekly segment on Wednesdays called Primary Complaint in which the hosts (Chad Withrow, Jonathan Hutton, and Paul Kuharsky) air whatever grievances they have whether it's sports related or anything else that's on their mind. They also invite listeners to call in or tweet their primary complaints practically to kill 30 minutes of the final hour of the show.
One listener called in complaining about his show being interrupted due to severe weather coverage on one of the local TV stations in Nashville (he even went as far as saying hurricane force winds is not going to harm a house), Kuharsky during this call complained about how TV stations scroll weather warnings over the box score of a game he's watching.
Here's my beef; this insensitive prick complaining about not seeing HIS show made it all about him and he feels that HIS show should not be interrupted for a tornado warning that isn't in HIS area. Reality check dude, WSMV, WKRN, WTVF, and WZTV (Nashville's TV markets) cover over 1,000,000 people living in the Nashville Metropolitan Area and some of the people in that area were under the gun with tornado warnings and the news coverage may have been their only way of receiving the warning......IT"S NOT ABOUT YOU GROW THE FUCK UP!!!!
As much of an issue I have with the caller, I have an even bigger issue with Kuharsky's comments during the phone in. Besides co-hosting The Midday 180 he also covers the AFC South for ESPN, he's a former columnist for The Tennessean, and he covered the Raiders while they were still in Los Angeles. He has a following and for him to complain about a severe weather warning scrolling across the bottom of the screen covering up the score of a game he's watching, I have a problem with that because he's saying that the warning being scrolled isn't as important as a score to fucking football game IMO. I'm a huge sports fan, but sports was the farthest from my mind days after the Good Friday Tornado and I'm positive it was even further from the victims' minds as they were too busy picking up the pieces of their destroyed homes and mourning the lost of love ones and I can GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you they wouldn't give a shit about the score of a Texans/Titans game if they were in the path of a tornado warned storm one county away from them.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Chase Log: 1/22/2012
Outlook: Moderate Risk
Target Area: Northwest Mississippi
Partners: Jesse Hines and Ashley Poling
Chasers Encountered: None
Travel Time: 16.5 hours
Miles Traveled: 800
Result: BUST
Long story short we gambled on a setup and lost; this became a night time event when some of the models the day before suggested mid to late afternoon initiation. I never look at a chase as disappointing because I'm out giving it a go, and this chase in particular was a great dry run for future chases.
This was only our second chase together (Jess, Ash, and me as this was my third chase with Jesse) and our first out of state adventure and it went almost as perfect as I could ever ask for. We had up to the minute data and we picked the right target area, but the cold front slowed down to a snail's pace over Western Arkansas and initiation did not occur until after sunset.. Again a pretty good dry run for a chase down the road.
Target Area: Northwest Mississippi
Partners: Jesse Hines and Ashley Poling
Chasers Encountered: None
Travel Time: 16.5 hours
Miles Traveled: 800
Result: BUST
Long story short we gambled on a setup and lost; this became a night time event when some of the models the day before suggested mid to late afternoon initiation. I never look at a chase as disappointing because I'm out giving it a go, and this chase in particular was a great dry run for future chases.
This was only our second chase together (Jess, Ash, and me as this was my third chase with Jesse) and our first out of state adventure and it went almost as perfect as I could ever ask for. We had up to the minute data and we picked the right target area, but the cold front slowed down to a snail's pace over Western Arkansas and initiation did not occur until after sunset.. Again a pretty good dry run for a chase down the road.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Recap of 2011, What 2012 Has In Store
Greetings from the Boro,
A quick recap of 2011; it's was a memorable year for me as I got to chase two big outbreaks (4/27 and 5/24) and got to meet some chasers along the way that have not only helped me out along the way but allowed me to be in my comfort zone as far as interaction goes. My 2011 Chase Season was as follows:
Chases: Approximately 10 or 11
Tornadoes: 4
Tornado Days: 2
States Chased: TN, AL, MS, KY, TX, OK
Now out with the old and in to the now and what 2012 could have in store; I have a good feeling about 2012 and that I'll continue my growth as a chaser. Having new chase partners in the fold is going to help me out big time in accomplishing this task, but I'm still new as are my partners which is going allow us the opportunity to grow together as a unit (I've already talked to a chaser about them and I told her I wouldn't trade my them for anything in the world including an increase in my tornado count by 20).
Exactly what are my goals for 2012? One goal is to film a photogenic tornado from start to finish (got to see an epic rope out but have yet to film a touchdown), my chase partners have yet to see a tornado so that's an absolute given (trust me when I say seeing a tornado in person is a far cry from seeing one on TV for those who've never seen one), an opportunity to visit and chase in different areas (I'll get to add CO to the list of states visited next month when I'll be attending the National Storm Chaser Convention aka Chaser Con), and meet more chaser out and about (again a goal that gets accomplished next month in Denver).
Being a one day at a time type individual I have no fucking clue what 2012 will bring, one thing is for damn sure I'm going to enjoy the ride no matter how bumpy it gets ;-).
A quick recap of 2011; it's was a memorable year for me as I got to chase two big outbreaks (4/27 and 5/24) and got to meet some chasers along the way that have not only helped me out along the way but allowed me to be in my comfort zone as far as interaction goes. My 2011 Chase Season was as follows:
Chases: Approximately 10 or 11
Tornadoes: 4
Tornado Days: 2
States Chased: TN, AL, MS, KY, TX, OK
Now out with the old and in to the now and what 2012 could have in store; I have a good feeling about 2012 and that I'll continue my growth as a chaser. Having new chase partners in the fold is going to help me out big time in accomplishing this task, but I'm still new as are my partners which is going allow us the opportunity to grow together as a unit (I've already talked to a chaser about them and I told her I wouldn't trade my them for anything in the world including an increase in my tornado count by 20).
Exactly what are my goals for 2012? One goal is to film a photogenic tornado from start to finish (got to see an epic rope out but have yet to film a touchdown), my chase partners have yet to see a tornado so that's an absolute given (trust me when I say seeing a tornado in person is a far cry from seeing one on TV for those who've never seen one), an opportunity to visit and chase in different areas (I'll get to add CO to the list of states visited next month when I'll be attending the National Storm Chaser Convention aka Chaser Con), and meet more chaser out and about (again a goal that gets accomplished next month in Denver).
Being a one day at a time type individual I have no fucking clue what 2012 will bring, one thing is for damn sure I'm going to enjoy the ride no matter how bumpy it gets ;-).
Friday, August 19, 2011
RANT TIME!!!!!!
Greetings from the Boro,
First off I'm under the weather (bout of bronchitis) and there's been some shit I've been reading for the past week I felt the need to throw my two cents in on plus it gives me the opportunity to blow off some much needed steam because I'm REAL pissed off right now.
First up the Indiana State Fair tragedy; sadly one more person died from the stage collapse Saturday night making the total deaths at 6. Now what has me angry about that event was it could have been prevented had fair officials did their job upon notification of the severe thunderstorm warning and evacuated the fairgrounds until the storm had passed (even if it meant postponing the Sugarland concert). The governor's only explanation as to what happened was it was a "freak act of god"..........BULL FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!! A tornado forming out of nowhere and hitting the fairground and lifting back up before NWS meteorologists catch it in time can be defined as a freak act of god the gust front that caused the tragedy could be seen on radar and fair officials had 26 minutes lead time more than enough time to evacuate yet the only PA announcement given in regards to the severe weather was where to go IF the concert got stopped followed by we will try to get Sugarland on the stage in a few minutes. Now I've heard the saying people are responsible for themselves the past week, but lets be honest here people aren't just going to up and leave an event they paid money for (even if severe weather is in the forecast) if they feel there isn't the need and the PA announcer informing them the show will go on gave them the idea everything was okay. Better safe than sorry in the future.
Next up the scandal that has unfolded at the University of Miami; this makes me sick especially if the allegations are true. I'd give anything ANY FUCKING THING to have my college education paid for, have my books paid for, a roof over my head, and provided with an allowance so I'm able to eat while getting my degree, and these peckerwoods at The U are fucking it up because of greed, lust, envy, and any other deadly sin you can think of. Of course it's not just the players at fault here the academic booster who orchestrated these alleged violations (stemming from paying players, providing prostitutes, paying for rims for cars among a few of the alleged violations) is in prison for orchestrating a ponzi scheme for christ sakes and there were talks that some coaches knew what was going on as well. NCAA, if these allegations are true or if even 20% of these allegations occurring while Miami was on probation grow some fucking balls and lay down the hammer. Talk is cheap Mark Emmert, failing to follow by your words of using the Death Penalty as a deterrent to programs that don't want to follow the rules makes you a hippo-crate and it will ignite a shitstorm throughout the NCAA and will give SMU every right to sue your ass because what SMU did to get the Death Penalty in the late 80s fails to compare to the charges against Miami.
Last but not least Facebook; okay the more and more I log on to FB the more and more I feel they should allow patients in mental hospitals across the country do FB because they're status updates seemed to be the most intelligent. I do my best not to air my dirty laundry on social network sites yet there are asshats out there who use FB as their own little diary (okay seriously if you don't give a shit about what's going on in my life what makes you think I care about your own problems). All FB has become is a breathing ground for drama and I'm sick and tired of it; plus you have security issues that leaves your profile vulnerable to hackers and viruses not to mention annoying tagging games that jam up my email with notifications "so and so has commented on a post you were tagged in" and now it seems like it's now a breathing ground for self appointed grammar cops to bully those into putting the language skills they learned in school in to use (okay words get misspelled get the fuck over it). I don't even look at the home page anymore I go straight to my profile and I will occasionally check out the profiles of my closest friends because I know they have their heads on their shoulders straight.
Okay rant over; wow I feel like a new man a more mellow man, plus the afrin helped big time.
First off I'm under the weather (bout of bronchitis) and there's been some shit I've been reading for the past week I felt the need to throw my two cents in on plus it gives me the opportunity to blow off some much needed steam because I'm REAL pissed off right now.
First up the Indiana State Fair tragedy; sadly one more person died from the stage collapse Saturday night making the total deaths at 6. Now what has me angry about that event was it could have been prevented had fair officials did their job upon notification of the severe thunderstorm warning and evacuated the fairgrounds until the storm had passed (even if it meant postponing the Sugarland concert). The governor's only explanation as to what happened was it was a "freak act of god"..........BULL FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!! A tornado forming out of nowhere and hitting the fairground and lifting back up before NWS meteorologists catch it in time can be defined as a freak act of god the gust front that caused the tragedy could be seen on radar and fair officials had 26 minutes lead time more than enough time to evacuate yet the only PA announcement given in regards to the severe weather was where to go IF the concert got stopped followed by we will try to get Sugarland on the stage in a few minutes. Now I've heard the saying people are responsible for themselves the past week, but lets be honest here people aren't just going to up and leave an event they paid money for (even if severe weather is in the forecast) if they feel there isn't the need and the PA announcer informing them the show will go on gave them the idea everything was okay. Better safe than sorry in the future.
Next up the scandal that has unfolded at the University of Miami; this makes me sick especially if the allegations are true. I'd give anything ANY FUCKING THING to have my college education paid for, have my books paid for, a roof over my head, and provided with an allowance so I'm able to eat while getting my degree, and these peckerwoods at The U are fucking it up because of greed, lust, envy, and any other deadly sin you can think of. Of course it's not just the players at fault here the academic booster who orchestrated these alleged violations (stemming from paying players, providing prostitutes, paying for rims for cars among a few of the alleged violations) is in prison for orchestrating a ponzi scheme for christ sakes and there were talks that some coaches knew what was going on as well. NCAA, if these allegations are true or if even 20% of these allegations occurring while Miami was on probation grow some fucking balls and lay down the hammer. Talk is cheap Mark Emmert, failing to follow by your words of using the Death Penalty as a deterrent to programs that don't want to follow the rules makes you a hippo-crate and it will ignite a shitstorm throughout the NCAA and will give SMU every right to sue your ass because what SMU did to get the Death Penalty in the late 80s fails to compare to the charges against Miami.
Last but not least Facebook; okay the more and more I log on to FB the more and more I feel they should allow patients in mental hospitals across the country do FB because they're status updates seemed to be the most intelligent. I do my best not to air my dirty laundry on social network sites yet there are asshats out there who use FB as their own little diary (okay seriously if you don't give a shit about what's going on in my life what makes you think I care about your own problems). All FB has become is a breathing ground for drama and I'm sick and tired of it; plus you have security issues that leaves your profile vulnerable to hackers and viruses not to mention annoying tagging games that jam up my email with notifications "so and so has commented on a post you were tagged in" and now it seems like it's now a breathing ground for self appointed grammar cops to bully those into putting the language skills they learned in school in to use (okay words get misspelled get the fuck over it). I don't even look at the home page anymore I go straight to my profile and I will occasionally check out the profiles of my closest friends because I know they have their heads on their shoulders straight.
Okay rant over; wow I feel like a new man a more mellow man, plus the afrin helped big time.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
A Sibling Reunion 14 Years In The Making
Greetings from the Boro,
A rare blog that nothing to do with chasing or weather so sit back and enjoy the ride; two weeks from Saturday I will attend a family reunion......more like a family union. My older half-sister Tracy will make a trip to Tennessee to attend her mother's wedding, this will be the first time I get to see her and I'm not going to lie there may be some tears being shed from this Sasquatch of a man.
I didn't find out about her until I was 14 years old when my other sister Amanda told me about her through letters they wrote to each other (to this day I don't even know how Amanda found out about her). Tracy was one of four children from my father which to me was shocking because until I found out about her, I thought Amanda was was only sibling (she's my only full sister). Amanda told me everything she knew about her through her letters from Tracy; she was 18 at the time (1997) and already had one son Nathan from a man who was in the military. They were living in Jacksonville, NC where she still lives today; the news about her being my sister made my day and I wanted to do everything I could to get to know her myself and eventually meet her, but of course life wouldn't be life without a few speed bumps.
Amanda and Tracy did keep in touch for years afterwards, but around 2001 it seemed as though she disappeared. In the coming years after a life changing incident involving yours truly, I got to reunite with my father's side of the family and eventually found out about David my brother and my oldest sister Ruthie (sadly the marriage between my mom and dad was a brutal one and they divorced while she was pregnant with me, it left such a bitter taste in her mouth she did everything she could to distant Amanda and me from our dad's side because they didn't necessarily had a clean cut reputation in Crossville). Only my Uncle Ralph knew about Tracy and her mother no one else knew about her which to me felt kind of odd. Years passed wondering what she was up to, was she still alive? It was killing me on the inside because of how family oriented of guy I am. One cold dreary day in February of last year I received a text message from Amanda that came out of the blue, she texted me Tracy's phone number they were talking again.
The first time I called up I nearly threw up that's how nervous I was how was she going to react when the voice she hears from the other line was her baby brother (5 years prior Amanda and my other sister Ruthie met up and from what Amanda told me she didn't seem too thrilled about our existence). Her reaction wasn't along the lines of OMG!!!!! THIS IS MY BROTHER she was laid back and somewhat nervous herself (which made me feel comfortable). We got to talking and instantly we bonded; like me she never knew our dad in fact she was put up for adoption at a young age going from foster home to foster home growing up in New Jersey before moving to North Carolina. She also explained to me why she stop getting in touch with my other sister which broke my heart and left me with some rage (I'm not going into detail but her ex-husband better pray to god I don't get my hands on him), in that time she had another son name Thomas (he's nicknamed Bubba). The more we talked the more and more we bonded because folks........we could easily be twins if she wasn't 4 years older than me ;-). Like me she loves rock and metal, hardly drinks but when she does she wants to get shitfaced, and she loves severe weather especially storm chasing (awesome combination when her baby bro is a chaser himself). I shared with her stories about chasing, she told me she watches Storm Chasers with a passion (okay I lied about there being no chasing reference in this blog get over it).
She met Amanda that March and she later got to know the rest of the family through phone contacts, but my busy work schedule made it impossible for me to go see her. I made attempts to make a trip to see her but shit happened that killed any opportunity; when she told me she was making what would be her one and only trip to Tennessee in two weeks I did everything I could to make sure we get to see each other. It almost never happened though as she was $100 short of reserving the rental car needed for the trip; I ditched work early to wire her the money she needed to make sure that come the 23rd we will get to see each other eye to eye.
Fourteen years I waited to tell her face to face how much I love her and that she has family that will stick with her through and through, the 23rd cannot come soon enough but the wait will be well worth it.
A rare blog that nothing to do with chasing or weather so sit back and enjoy the ride; two weeks from Saturday I will attend a family reunion......more like a family union. My older half-sister Tracy will make a trip to Tennessee to attend her mother's wedding, this will be the first time I get to see her and I'm not going to lie there may be some tears being shed from this Sasquatch of a man.
I didn't find out about her until I was 14 years old when my other sister Amanda told me about her through letters they wrote to each other (to this day I don't even know how Amanda found out about her). Tracy was one of four children from my father which to me was shocking because until I found out about her, I thought Amanda was was only sibling (she's my only full sister). Amanda told me everything she knew about her through her letters from Tracy; she was 18 at the time (1997) and already had one son Nathan from a man who was in the military. They were living in Jacksonville, NC where she still lives today; the news about her being my sister made my day and I wanted to do everything I could to get to know her myself and eventually meet her, but of course life wouldn't be life without a few speed bumps.
Amanda and Tracy did keep in touch for years afterwards, but around 2001 it seemed as though she disappeared. In the coming years after a life changing incident involving yours truly, I got to reunite with my father's side of the family and eventually found out about David my brother and my oldest sister Ruthie (sadly the marriage between my mom and dad was a brutal one and they divorced while she was pregnant with me, it left such a bitter taste in her mouth she did everything she could to distant Amanda and me from our dad's side because they didn't necessarily had a clean cut reputation in Crossville). Only my Uncle Ralph knew about Tracy and her mother no one else knew about her which to me felt kind of odd. Years passed wondering what she was up to, was she still alive? It was killing me on the inside because of how family oriented of guy I am. One cold dreary day in February of last year I received a text message from Amanda that came out of the blue, she texted me Tracy's phone number they were talking again.
The first time I called up I nearly threw up that's how nervous I was how was she going to react when the voice she hears from the other line was her baby brother (5 years prior Amanda and my other sister Ruthie met up and from what Amanda told me she didn't seem too thrilled about our existence). Her reaction wasn't along the lines of OMG!!!!! THIS IS MY BROTHER she was laid back and somewhat nervous herself (which made me feel comfortable). We got to talking and instantly we bonded; like me she never knew our dad in fact she was put up for adoption at a young age going from foster home to foster home growing up in New Jersey before moving to North Carolina. She also explained to me why she stop getting in touch with my other sister which broke my heart and left me with some rage (I'm not going into detail but her ex-husband better pray to god I don't get my hands on him), in that time she had another son name Thomas (he's nicknamed Bubba). The more we talked the more and more we bonded because folks........we could easily be twins if she wasn't 4 years older than me ;-). Like me she loves rock and metal, hardly drinks but when she does she wants to get shitfaced, and she loves severe weather especially storm chasing (awesome combination when her baby bro is a chaser himself). I shared with her stories about chasing, she told me she watches Storm Chasers with a passion (okay I lied about there being no chasing reference in this blog get over it).
She met Amanda that March and she later got to know the rest of the family through phone contacts, but my busy work schedule made it impossible for me to go see her. I made attempts to make a trip to see her but shit happened that killed any opportunity; when she told me she was making what would be her one and only trip to Tennessee in two weeks I did everything I could to make sure we get to see each other. It almost never happened though as she was $100 short of reserving the rental car needed for the trip; I ditched work early to wire her the money she needed to make sure that come the 23rd we will get to see each other eye to eye.
Fourteen years I waited to tell her face to face how much I love her and that she has family that will stick with her through and through, the 23rd cannot come soon enough but the wait will be well worth it.
My Sister Tracy Michelle Bryan
Thursday, June 23, 2011
I Christen Thee "Twisted Metal Chasers"
Greetings from the Boro,
Got new chase partners for next year and hopefully if fall goes apeshit like spring did the rest of this year; Jesse Hines (originally from Nebraska but moved to Tennessee for work and school, he's an MTSU student and a diesel mechanic), Ashley Poling (a cartographer from NW Indiana who was majoring in Meterology at Valparaiso University before switching majors), and Chris Selby (a pharmacy technician at Wal-Mart and guitarist for Oblivion Myth) are my new partners and this blog is dedicated to them.
I met Jes and Ash at our chaser parties, they've known each other from TVN's forum which they are a member of. I knew Chris back in high school but he like everyone else from high school I lost contact with him until recently when he began noticing some of my chases (he's wanted to go storm chasing but didn't know anyone in the Middle Tennessee area that did it). The four of us have yet to chase together although we hope to in the very near future; Jes, Ash, and I did chase last Sunday and not since my vacation did I have fun chasing (I was held back because of my personality, you know being "unprofessional").
Ashley came up with a nickname for our group "Twisted Metal Chasers" (it fits our personalities we chase twisters and we love heavy metal music). I'm not big on group names in chasing however to me it shows unity and that it's not a one man show among three other people (any streaming from this day forth shall have our group name along with our names, I'm still stringing through Kendra Reed and KDRMedia but any sale of footage shall be split evenly between us).
You'll be hearing more from them in the near future as I plan on sharing my blogsite with them that way whatever they have they want to get off their chest through blogging they don't have to go through the hassle of creating their own blog page.
Got new chase partners for next year and hopefully if fall goes apeshit like spring did the rest of this year; Jesse Hines (originally from Nebraska but moved to Tennessee for work and school, he's an MTSU student and a diesel mechanic), Ashley Poling (a cartographer from NW Indiana who was majoring in Meterology at Valparaiso University before switching majors), and Chris Selby (a pharmacy technician at Wal-Mart and guitarist for Oblivion Myth) are my new partners and this blog is dedicated to them.
I met Jes and Ash at our chaser parties, they've known each other from TVN's forum which they are a member of. I knew Chris back in high school but he like everyone else from high school I lost contact with him until recently when he began noticing some of my chases (he's wanted to go storm chasing but didn't know anyone in the Middle Tennessee area that did it). The four of us have yet to chase together although we hope to in the very near future; Jes, Ash, and I did chase last Sunday and not since my vacation did I have fun chasing (I was held back because of my personality, you know being "unprofessional").
Ashley came up with a nickname for our group "Twisted Metal Chasers" (it fits our personalities we chase twisters and we love heavy metal music). I'm not big on group names in chasing however to me it shows unity and that it's not a one man show among three other people (any streaming from this day forth shall have our group name along with our names, I'm still stringing through Kendra Reed and KDRMedia but any sale of footage shall be split evenly between us).
You'll be hearing more from them in the near future as I plan on sharing my blogsite with them that way whatever they have they want to get off their chest through blogging they don't have to go through the hassle of creating their own blog page.
Friday, June 10, 2011
What The Summer Has In Store.......
Greetings from the Boro,
With my chase season for the most part over (I had plans to chase up north but a sudden expense has derailed those plans) it's time for life to return to normal or as normal as can be for me.
I will admit my 2011 chase season while fun burnt me out big time; I made some new friends in the chase community some of whom adopted me into their close knit family, but I also lost some friends well so called friends (a true friend doesn't make you pay for his friendship or make you change who you are because he's embarrassed to be seen with you in public).
I don't know what kind of summer I'll be having, but since everyone I talk to is doing their own thing I might as well follow suit. Maybe do some fishing, barbecues, or getting reaccquainted with my friends and family outside the chase community. Whatever it is I plan on doing I just tend on relaxing and enjoy this down period until the secondary tornado season occurs in the Fall.
With my chase season for the most part over (I had plans to chase up north but a sudden expense has derailed those plans) it's time for life to return to normal or as normal as can be for me.
I will admit my 2011 chase season while fun burnt me out big time; I made some new friends in the chase community some of whom adopted me into their close knit family, but I also lost some friends well so called friends (a true friend doesn't make you pay for his friendship or make you change who you are because he's embarrassed to be seen with you in public).
I don't know what kind of summer I'll be having, but since everyone I talk to is doing their own thing I might as well follow suit. Maybe do some fishing, barbecues, or getting reaccquainted with my friends and family outside the chase community. Whatever it is I plan on doing I just tend on relaxing and enjoy this down period until the secondary tornado season occurs in the Fall.
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