Ask any Oklahoman who’s lived here for more than a year who his or her personal heroes are, and at least one of those names, if not the very first one, will be Gary England. The Chief Meteorologist for Channel 9 here in OKC has been forecasting the weather for longer than many Okies have been alive. In a well-written essay about our town and our hero, Sam Anderson of the New York Times has really caught the flavor of a part of our little corner of the world that so many outsiders never bother to peer into. With his impending retirement, I’m thinking that things around here might not be quite as safe for a while.
With heavy rains and severe weather forecasted for the coming week–no tornadoes though, the jet stream isn’t south enough–I’ll be holding off on building the planting beds I was planning on, and probably just stay indoors and play Star Wars The Old Republic. What do you all have on tap this weekend?
Belafon
Living in Texas, where we get our share of storms, I personally think that all meteorologists should be required to do at least 2 years of work in Oklahoma before they can claim to be professionals.
schrodinger's cat
Grilling tomorrow, tandoori chicken and beef kibbe kebabs, possibly hiking if the weather co-operates.
gene108
Funny you mention Gary England, I think the Science Channel or H2 had something on tornadoes in Central Oklahoma this morning and a lot of it was about Gary England pushing for the latest in forecasting technology and how it’s been used to help avoid disaster.
The piece was from 2003. They had something about the county manager calling a movie theater and saying there’s a tornado heading there way and the movie theater manager cleared the auditoriums and moved people to the center of the building. The after images had cars thrown through what would’ve been the movie screen into the auditoriums. Apparently no one was hurt. This was an F4 category twister.
The forecasting did a lot to save lives.
EDIT: Taking the day of from work just because I needed to take a day off. Wasting a lot of time. Had some vague plan to exercise and then clean up the place. Maybe I’ll get around to it sooner or later.
dan
Got invited, with my 11 yo son, to a Yankee game in a luxury box!
Violet
Thanks for linking this story. I am such a weather geek, but having never lived in Oklahoma I didn’t know of him. I’m part way through the article–it’s great stuff.
kindness
Sanding & cutting wood. Building a new rack for the electronics.
Shakezula
Going camping. Going camping in Maine. Going to camp and fish and kayak and eat the 6 pounds I just lost back on to my ass in Maine. I will have to do some work while I’m up there, but I don’t care.
Ha ha ha, just in time to escape climbing temps in D.C. Ppppbbbfft!
Southern Beale
Here in Nashville some of the same neighborhoods which just got slammed by a 1,000-year flood three years ago got hit again. But, climate change is a hoax!
Stay dry …
nodakfarmboy
Reading things like this just makes me wonder what reason (short of dire economic need for work) would make someone choose to live in Oklahoma. I know the overall level of deaths pales in comparison to the total population, but the frequency of destruction is still way too high for my taste.
All due respect Sooner, but I don’t think I could deal with it.
Violet
@Southern Beale: I saw some woman in Nashville on the news this morning. She said something like, “The weather is crazy the last few years. I don’t know what’s happening.” It occurred to me that it might be educational to get a whole bunch of clips like that, string them together, and then have a climate scientist or two at the end say something like, “Yes, we do know what’s happening. It’s called global climate change. And it’s going to get a lot worse.”
srv
I remember being let out of HS once. After lunch, we were told to go home because of approaching weather. It was a nice sunny day at noon.
The weather service guy who made the call to send all the kids home was an old vet staring at radar from the 1940s. Lived behind us.
I thought he’d gone nuts. Five hours later.
Yatsuno
On tap this weekend? Nothing. On purpose. I’ve been running all over the damn place every weekend since the 4th of July and now it is pure relaxation time.
scav
@nodakfarmboy: Deaths and infrastructure destruction from winter cold (and summer heat) are less photogenic and garner less press. But they grind on each and every year and add up over time.
Highway Rob
Wifey and I are going to test drive potential baby-mobiles for our not-quite-impending new addition. We understand that babies come with lots of stuff these days, so we won’t be able to rely on our two two-doors once car seats enter the picture. Any suggestions, other than that I should drag my ass over to Jalopnik where I belong?
ruemara
@Highway Rob: Mini Cooper! Countryman! Why?/ Because I like it and recommend it since I can’t have one.
Violet
@Highway Rob: You’ll want to keep that baby as safe as you possibly can. Look at the crash test ratings. Even if you don’t think that way now, you will the first time you put that baby in the car and drive him or her home. You’ll wish you had a tank.
jeffreyw
Traded off Mrs J’s car for another with a lot of dashboard tech, we’ll be sorting through the onboard menus and pairing phones and looking at the streaming options. There is a software update to load into it and that will take a while. It has a nice nav screen and turn by turn is available but Google Nav has it beat so far as we’ve messed with them both. They are calling for a lot of rain here in the coming days – stalled front and lots of moisture available.
cleek
gonna put up some pegboard for Mrs to store her Mrs stuff on.
drive my new car around the back roads for a bit. see if i can’t christen it with a speeding ticket.
? Martin
But you have Reed Timmer! He can drive around in his up-armored Buick and scream the weather report over his cell phone.
Ted & Hellen
With the exception of the OU campus in Norman, and Sooner Football, and Memorial Stadium/Cathedral, OK is a hellhole.
I know. I’ve been there many times.
StringOnAStick
Just had one of my husband’s oldest friends here for a few days, unfortunately at a time when my husband was totally under the gun at work and couldn’t take any time off to play. I will certainly miss the breakfast discussions he and I had been having. He and husband met when they were in grade school, were friends for years and even college roommates; he’s a great guy living a very interesting and free life because he’s willing to give up so much of the material world.
Tomorrow we go up in the mountains to mountain bike and then go see various artists at the annual GuitarTown event (free, at Copper Mountain resort); we’re huge fans of the gypsy jazz played by The John Jorgenson Quintet there each year, but everyone who plays is fabulous and the event is strangely small for being so close to Denver (especially given the “free” aspect and all that).
Going SUPing Sunday (renting) because I entered a race the weekend after; my race is a 1 mile course and I probably should have signed up for the 5 mile one but since I’m renting the website would only let me do the shortest course. It appears to be something I can do that doesn’t piss off my knees much and burns some calories, plus really helps me deal with my fear of water.
ranchandsyrup
Smores tonight at the beach. Legoland tomorrow. Werk on Sunday because the California Legislature is moronic and need to be ready for a committee meeting on tues.
Citizen_X
Building my arsenal. FINALLY made the decision (I think) to get one of these, to feed into one of these. Lots of $$$ involved, absolutely. But that will enable my machine to kill a whole lot of fascists.*
*To paraphrase Wonkette, “with NOTES!”
Poopyman
Preparing to head for the mountains for the Perseids, if I’d just get the hell off the computer.
Alabama Blue Dot
Our weather god here in central Alabama is James Spann, who is a master of explaining what’s about to happen, and promotes weather radios like crazy. Very opinionated and probably has saved a lot of lives.
However, Mr. Spann is also a climate-change denier, like a puzzlingly large number of meteorologists. I really don’t get it. But I definitely listen to him about the weather.
? Martin
This weekend I’m helping the boy with a paid project (he’s doing some custom cabinetry to make money – limited job opportunities when you’re under 16) and we’re doing some interview prep (he has a interview to do contract graphic design work for a company that does t-shirt printing/patches/etc.)
The girl has a friend visiting who moved out of state last year, so it’s a week and a half long sleepover for them. Girls are off to girl scout camp next week which Ms Martin is an organizer of, so I’ll also be helping her get her shit together.
And I’m going to try and get some more crown molding up as part of the home improvement project that has no foreseeable end.
HinTN
Canning tomatoes and freezing pesto; hoping for clear skies to see Perseids (and mow out-of-control yard); “lounging about
PS: nym and email vanished
moonbat
The only thing that made the movie “Twister” in any way authentic was when they put Gary England on the screen and suddenly shot me back to my childhood when he was the only man who knew what was going on with the weather. As a former resident of Tornado Alley I can testify that the man is a treasure.
Liquid
SoonerGrunt — You play SW:TOR? Sheee-eee-eee-it, you must be the one person propping up that towering inferno. Move to EVE, because we love you.
Rorgg
I recently obtained and started playing a bass guitar, which is a much better instrument for my skills, physical attributes (read: giant meat paws) and manual dexterity than a standard 6-stringer. The wife and I are friends with a couple who do music for their church now and then, and asked us to provide extra instrumentation for a couple songs Sunday. Last time we looked into this I was a sloppy 3rd guitar and background vocals, but this time, I can actually provide something unique and helpful to the ensemble. Yay. So, we’ll rehearse that tonight and do it Sunday morning. Saturday night, we have a cast party from the production of “Fiddler on the Roof” we were just in, Sunday night rehearsal for our next show, “Rabbit Hole,” and in-between I’ll dink around with my 8-year-old daughter, getting her up to speed on the ukulele I just got her. :)
MomSense
I have four extra male teenage units in my house this weekend and the weather stinks so I might be holed up in my bedroom watching chick flicks.
Our weather forecasts of late consist of “partly sunny becoming increasingly cloudy with a chance of showers” or the cover their asses before angry lobstermen storm the tv studios forecast.
Liquid
@MomSense: We know what to do with Lobstermen — http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Lobster_Man
Mike E
I’m navigating a few events: Miss E’s 18th b’day, and impending departure for college; two weekend shifts at the convention ctr, where I will be keeper of the keys (wish it wasn’t zero dark thirty intimes tho, but it’s a “promotion”); and, AAA baseball on Sunday, my 1st game in a dog’s age…I predict drunken base running during the 7th inning stretch by yours truly!
MomSense
@Liquid:
Ayuh!!
Thomas Masterson
@Liquid: Hell, I play SWTOR too. I enjoy it. Woot, Soonergrunt!
Liquid
@Thomas Masterson: I went from STO to EVE. You guys really need better taste in MMOs with a future.
Gindy51
Getting the house puppy proofed for our new arrival on Wednesday. She’s a born deaf greater Swiss Mountain Dog pup from a most excellent and educated breeder in Indiana. We fell for her before we knew she was deaf and not much changed after we found out. I have a trainer all lined up, hand signals taught to all family members, her food purchased, dozens of toys and bones bought, and the yard chicken wired to prevent any escape (helps keep the tick covered bunnies out too).
Busy busy busy.
Thomas Masterson
@Liquid: I’m also playing Diablo II. :P
Soonergrunt
@Ted & Hellen: The downtown area of OKC is very nice EDIT: these days, it is. A LOT of urban renewal has gone on. If you haven’t been here recently, you should come see.
http://welcometobricktown.com/
http://www.myriadgardens.org/index.php
burnspbesq
@Highway Rob:
Jetta diesel wagon. Carries pretty much anything. Gets from SoCal to Seattle on two tanks of go-go juice. Holds value.
ranchandsyrup
@Soonergrunt: True that. Was pleasantly surprised with OKC. Good times.
gbear
I was trying to hit the 5,000 mile mark for the 1-year anniversary (August 4) of my Kymko People 300gti scooter, but I missed it because I wasted too much time in the house the last couple weekends. I need to ride about 160 miles this weekend to put it over 5,000. Saturday looks like a good day for a long ride, so I’ll put doing laundry off until Sunday when it’s supposed to be rainy anyway.
My favorite ride is down along the Mississippi and around Lake Pepin, but there are always so many ‘serious’ bikers on the Wisconsin side (most of which are lined up in front of all the small town bars) that it tends to be a drag. Many of those guys would rather pull out in front of a truck than be caught riding behind a scooter.
Fort Geek
Working on a “High Output” font in CAD, based on the H.O. V6 emblem on my car. I’ve put off finishing it long enough.
What started it was a guy on the Citation X-11 Yahoo! group asking around for reproduction decals for his about-to-be-painted ’85. I was bored, so I got pics from him and used them to make up a set of CAD drawings. I figured he could take the drawing files to a sign shop, get them printed on vinyl, and voila!
A few months went by and I got an email from him thanking me for the drawings and showing the results: El Mexicano X-11.
Last night, a second guy wrote to thank me for making the drawings available (I upped them to the group’s “files” folder so any member can grab a copy). He changed the colors to match his own car.
Feelin’ pretty proud of myself right now. Dangerously close to optimism.
burnspbesq
@Citizen_X:
Everybody’s mileage varies, and some amps are better suited for some styles of playing, but what does that rig give you that a Twin Reverb wouldn’t?
Southern Beale
@Violet:
Brilliant idea!
Southern Beale
Holy fuck:
Video at the link…
gene108
@Liquid:
Who can resist the fun of spending 15-20 minutes figuring a route going only through high sec space, so you don’t get ganked, that’ll take a half hour of actual travel timel :-)
Liquid
@Thomas Masterson: Yeah, I’ve been through maybe 4 PCs and Diablo II is usually the first game I install. My favorite part — That bit of music when you kill Blood Raven.
— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZTm4jTIiRk
Liquid
@gene108: I believe my greatest work is referring to SW:TOR as a Towering Inferno. I’ll be citing that shit in my resume for years!
realbtl
@gbear:
You can have all sorts of fun with “serious” bikers on a scooter. One is to take your hand off the bar and wave to them in the middle of a corner. Or lead them into a 30 mph corner at say 50. Quite entertaining.
Highway Rob
@burnspbesq: @ruemara: @Violet:
Thanks!
Sibelius
@Highway Rob: I’ve got 2 girls now, a 5 and a 6 year old. I looked at everything. I bought the 2013 Acura RDX a year and 10500 miles ago. More or less came down to safety, comfort and the ability to fit 2 VERY LARGE Britax Frontier 85 SICT car seats in the back. There aren’t too many cars or small CUV’s that accommodate car seats comfortably. No minivan said the wife, no large SUV said I. Finalists were the Honda CRV, nice but gutless, Subaru Outback, front end shimmy at 70 they can’t seem to get rid of, Volvo XC60, didn’t fit the car seats. The RDX was comfortable and powerful and handles really well. I saw the Jetta wagon mentioned above, it was not as roomy in the backseat as the Jetta sedan was. At the time the wagon was based on an older jetta platform, it may have been redesigned since. I also liked the cavernous backseat of the Passat. I was actually set to buy the Jetta or Passat but the dealer turned from great to ass in 3 seconds flat so I walked.
Biggest advice from me would be get your car seat now, take it to the dealer with you when you test drive. Oh, the other thing I learned was to use my credit union’s free car buying service. I will never deal with another car dealer again.
Congratulations and best of luck in car shopping and parenthood.
kindness
@burnspbesq:
Are you talking pre-CBS or post?
Highway Rob
@Sibelius: That’s thorough. Did you ever look at the M-1 Abrams?
Citizen_X
@burnspbesq:
Some amps are better suited for some styles of playing.
I mean, seriously? Nothing against Fender Twins–I was checking out a huge hollow-body Gretsch today that I’m sure would sound pretty sweet on a Twin–but that’s not what I need. I play hardcore and metal that’s more on the black/death end of the scale. So if someone asks, “Why not just get a Marshall JCM?,” I’d say: a wall-of-sound roar rich in overtones, endlessly sculptable tone, and capability of choosing between several of those different sounds (not just “lead” and “rhythm”) by footswitch. The actual choice was the Fryette or a Peavey 6165+, and I’m willing to pay $1200 extra for the Fryette’s flexibility.
I think.
Sibelius
@Highway Rob: Not enough cup holders.
J R in WV
Took new adoptee from local animal shelter to Vet for her first visit. Heartworm negative! Hurray!
She’s a white/blonde Lab mix, sweet, but ignorant. Didn’t know from grass, had a hard time with steps. Vet liked her a lot. Doggy kisses.
Back home, after a stop for cheeseburger, nothing on it. Dogs love going to the Vet at our house. Cheeseburgers! Yum! All they can think about is the treat afterwards.
Rathskeller
he’s still alive?! I left Oklahoma in 1982!!! Holy cow.