Category: Weather

Categories
Weather

Trouble In The Tropics

As the remnants of Hurricane Bill approach The British Isles with strong southerly winds and torrential downpours I’m now analyzing a rather strong Tropical Wave just east of the northern-most Leeward Islands. It could possibly develop into a Tropical Depression and perhaps even a Tropical Storm within the next 2 to 4 days. It would be named ‘Danny’ if so. Its chances of affecting Florida and points north along the U.S. East Coast are virtually zero due to forecasted steering winds. No worries. It should follow the same path as Hurricane Bill.

Categories
Driving History Home Life Music Radio Weather

Saturday Night Retro

On this exact date 17 years ago – the 22ND of August of 1992 – also a Saturday – we were given our final instructions and orders to evacuate the air base as quickly as possible due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Andrew. We had no idea what Andrew would bring, and it ultimately brought a once-in-a-lifetime storm of mass destruction to the base and the surrounding South Miami-Dade countryside.

It was the most horrific experience of my entire life – a Sunday night / Monday morning that I never went to sleep. I never wish to relive that night or the nightmarish week that followed. I don’t like to write about it, and I don’t like to talk about it. A lot of good ultimately came out of that storm. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be living and working here in Homestead today 17 years later if it weren’t for Hurricane Andrew. I’d be elsewhere. But it happened, and here I am.

One song in particular was receiving heavy airplay on the radio during the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. It’s the duet of Patty Smyth and Don Henley. Together they sang “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough”. Patty co-wrote the Grammy-nominated song that played out like a post-love song. It was the story of two former lovers who were moving away from their relationship together and moving on with life.

I interpretted the lyrics in a slightly different manner:
—
‘I don’t wanna lose you.’
—
‘And I don’t wanna hate you.
I don’t wanna take you.
But I don’t wanna be the one to cry.
That don’t really matter to anyone, anymore.
But like a fool I keep losing my place.’
—
‘It makes a sound like thunder.
It makes me feel like rain.’
—
‘And there’s no way home.
When it’s late at night and you’re all alone.’
—
‘There’s a reason why people dont stay where they are.
Baby sometimes love just ain’t enough.’

This was treated at the time as my farewell love song to Homestead. I didn’t want to leave. But I had to. The Homestead that I had known for nearly 5 years prior to that was all gone. She was completely destroyed. My home was inhabitable. My job was non-existant. I looked at Homestead one last time in my rear-view mirror, as this song played on the radio and made me cry.

Categories
Driving Life Music Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– School is back in session again here in Miami-Dade County.
– At least it is for the teachers.
– This morning’s typical drive to work was 10 times busier than it’s been lately.
– That’s because all of the teachers were on the road !
– They were frantically getting to their schools.
– They were making pit stops at gas stations to get gas, coffee, and donuts.
– The kids go back to school this Monday.
– I can hardly wait for out-of-control school buses to be back on the roads again.
– This Monday is the 17TH anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.
– He changed the Greater Homestead area forever.
– 3 out of every 4 Homestead residents today did NOT live through Andrew.
– I did.
– It was the most horrific experience of my entire life.
– And I wasn’t even in Homestead at the time.
– I was bunkered down at a house in West Kendall near SW 100TH St.
– First sight outside – a U-Haul on the top of the roof of another house.
– We’ve come a long way since then Homestead.
– Together we stand.
– It’s the 232ND day of 2009.
– This year is over 63½% done and over with.
– The 2ND decade of this new millennium is just 19 weeks away.
– 2010 is going to be totally MASSIVE for me.
– It will be the most important year of my entire Life.
– Well those are my spontaneous ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– Oh – before I go – don’t forget about the ‘Disco Party’ tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a jam that my friend Ela was probably dancing to when she was 19.
– That’s when she ruled the Miami dance club scene.
– When you hear it you will definitely get up and dance like a maniac.
– There’s nothing wrong with that.
– Until then you can follow me on Twitter at majorhitwaves.

Categories
Blogging Computers Health Internet Radio Sports Television Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  WELCOME to the monumental 1,000TH blog entry here on the WordPress incarnation of this here blog. It took about 21 months to get to 1,000 posts. As most of the other blogs that were near and dear to me have come and gone this one right here just keeps on churning along. I thank each and every one of you for reading, commenting, laughing, agreeing, and disagreeing with me. Let’s keep it goin’ indefinitely.

2.  I finally gave in to Twitter, and now you can follow me at the majorhitwaves name. You can also read my last 7 Twitter tweets over on the right-hand side of this blog’s home page underneath the ‘Follow Me On Twitter’ heading. I personally made myself crack-up severely when I selected my Junior year in High School picture from 25 years ago as my avatar. I’m still chuckling at that.

3.  This past Sunday morning my favourite radio deejay in the entire universe – Kelly D. – actually tried to convince me that Major League Baseball should be my favourite sport to follow due to its extensive utilization of statistics (being the statistician that I am). I told her that I find Baseball to be boring whether it be on the radio, on television, or LIVE and in-person. Although the Florida Marlins do intrigue me with their consistent high-scoring games whether they win or lose. I adore numbers that constantly change. Numbers are my favourite toys.

4.  My ‘Trouble In The Tropics’ forecast from yesterday is right on-track as you can plainly see. We are now within that 24-hour window where the remnants of once Tropical Depression Ana are affecting us. The 3 to 5 inches of rain has begun, and the 25 MPH wind gusts at times are here. Expect rapidly improving conditions (sunny, hot, and dry) by tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon – and continuing for at least the next 4 to 6 days.

5.  I just weighed myself, and I currently weigh-in at 173 pounds. I’ve pretty much been stuck in the lower-170s for several years now. I was previously stuck in the upper-160s for several years, and before that it was the mid-160s. I see a negative trend developing here. I’m getting heavier as I get older. I’ve been advised by my middle-aged counterparts that this is standard operating procedure, and that there is absolutely nothing that I can do to prevent it from happening. Gotcha. As long as my cholesterol drops like a rock (with the Lipitor) it’s all good.