this isn't about the derivative blowup over at JPMChase or the continuing CF over in Greece. This is about something different.

As some of you may know, i'm not a small fry or a normal fry, but a steak fry sizewise. So for some of my clothes, i have to go to a shop called Casual Male XL. Good shop, actually some good clothes there as well as good clerks and in the stores I would recommend them. I had a charge account with them, small one, just in case i needed some clothes and such, like a pair of pants, boxer-briefs, etc so i could pay them off separately and quickly. Well, when Casual Male XL and HSBC retail services said that they weren't doing those accounts anymore as of I think Feb or March, and the store said they weren't going to accept the card anymore, I paid off what I owed and thought that once the account was paid off it would be closed and that was that, no muss, no fuss, so i get things on debit or credit (mainly debit) on my only other card in the future.

Au contraire, as I got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago saying that my account with them was not only still alive, but was sold over to Capital One. And I have to tell you, it's like "WTF, I thought this was closed once it was paid off". So i e-mailed Casual Male XL earlier today asking them what was going on, i thought the account was dead. They said the card is dead but that was it. So i decided to call the number on the card i should have cut-up a couple of months ago (since the Capital One number only leads you to a phone tree with no choice for an operator). And after asking what is going on, they said only that the account was open but basically I couldn't use it (sounded like a person from bangaldesh, india, or some other outsourced call center who didn't have a clue). So when i asked for his supervisor explaining what i got in the mail and wanting an explanation, he just asked if i wanted to close the account? Well, i said yea, since i couldn't use it anyway, why have it open? so in a week or so i should be getting a letter saying it's closed.

But the remaining questions i have yet to hear an answer to are, if the retailer wasn't going to accept the card anymore, and the only reason you got the card was because of the retailer, why weren't the accounts closed by default once everyone had a chance to pay off what they owe (like common and even financial sense would dictate)? and why was an account with a balance of 0.00 that couldn't be used allowed to be sold to begin with (isn't that misdemeanor or possibly felony fraud (depending on the account value) that since it was interstate could be considered a federal banking crime)?

And you wonder why people hate the baking industry sometimes.

i know it's kinda weird in documenting this type of search. but let's face it it's good writing fodder, and also it does offer a bit of self-inspection about myself as well. as we left off, the first date went ok, but didn't lead to a 2nd. so where have i gone since then? well some rejections have occurred, but about a 1-5 or 1-6 ratio between outright rejections and sending e-mails and getting no actual response. and getting the no response is worse than the rejection to be bluntly honest. because as much as someone doesn't like getting rejected, at least you know it's a rejection unlike if it's no response so there's a mystery that will never be solved.

that being said, last night match had a mixer-type of event over at Republic over in minny. and to be honest, there i felt a lot better about the search for a lady to be with then i have felt most of the other time since i started searching a couple of months ago. it started a bit slow because it was loosely organized at best (not much in the way of signage from match or stuff like that). but that being said, once things got going it actually wasn't too bad. the first lady i met was a sales rep for one of the major drug companies out here in the mid-west. she travelled a decent amount, but when she went to the company's annual meeting near King of Prussia, she could sympathize with going through philly airport and knew about the schyukill. and she also was more than a bit interested when upon her promoting i told her i was a meteorologist, apparently that it more interesting to explain in person than it was to explain on the profile, go figure.
but deciding to mingle a bit more with other people there i did wander a bit around. then i met the 2nd lady of the night, and what turns out to be the best one to meet there. she works for the state in environmental protection, focusing on stormwater. and when she found out that i was a meteorologist, she lit up as much as the state xmas tree on the night of the lighting. we ended up talking for a pretty long while, and between me and the other guys at that table, let's just say it was one of the more social times where i just lost track of time, in a good way. whether it leads to something or not, who knows. but even after i roamed around the room a bit after that to see if there was any other ladies i could really meet, it was lady #2 who most stuck out in my mind for the night and i had to go back to. and even if it doesn't become a love-based relationship, i could see at least a good solid social relationship with her. whether she sees it the same way or not, who knows. but i did find her profile and e-mail her my thoughts on meeting her the first night, so we'll see what happens. that event just about counter-balances everything else about my search to this point.

it was a good change of pace from poker last night. not saying where i usually play poker on monday nights is a bad place, but to be honest, the mixer last night took me out of my normal element and actually played more to my strengths, in-person interaction, than written profiles do. that sounds a lot like my job search, now that i think about it. kind of ironic, don't you think?

so as for now, back to the laundry and back to life. but it is a bit happier than when i left for the event on the 3 bus over on maryland last night.

i know some people think religion and science shouldn't mix, but in this case it can, given how nasty today and maybe even tomorrow are looking.

dear lord god,

on this day before orthodox easter, with the conditions looking to us on earth like some of the worst that can be offered by mother nature, yourself, and other deities; even if you do not intentionally deliver them other than to bring balance back to the earth; please bring to me and my colleagues today, whether they be stormchasers, forecasters, or fellow media people; not only the knowledge to be able to interpret what is going on, but also the guidance and strength to relay that information in a manner that saves the life of our fellow man as best we can. and may we also receive your blessing that whatever severe storms or tornadoes do happen, that they occur in areas where they can harm at worst some trees and crops, not our fellow man in the large cities and small towns.  crops and even buildings can be rebuilt and re-sowed, but the lives of our fellow man cannot be brought back, so may there be as little injury and loss of life as heavenly possible by steering these storms into more rural areas where possible.

i ask this in your name and in all names in which you are known.

amen

and well, i now know the feeling of being out-gunned, out matched, out classed, the whole 9 yards. i mean, i know i can't blame the site, and i can't blame the ladies out there. but it's kinda rough when they have taken trips everywhere from Mexico to Milan to Japan and Italy, and the furthest you've ever been in your life is once to Orlando, once to Ottawa, once to Nashville, once to Louisville, and a couple of times to Austin (and the vast majority of times were not pleasure trips). Add that to the fact that you work when most of them are out partying with their family and friends, you don't have the biggest bankbook in the world, and you have a quirky style about you that can seem strange to those who don't know you well, and it just seems discouraging and downright intimidating.

not like i haven't connected with anyone, because so far i did get one date out of it. and while that one ended up only so-so because of personalities not totally meshing (leading to not having a 2nd date), she wasn't a bad person and to be honest, i hope when she does find who she is looking for she gets someone that can appreciate her well. and at least she was decent enough to not leave me hanging, so i can respect her no matter what. after all, no special someone deserves anything less, imho. too bad i don't have that special someone attm, but hopefully someday. i'm not planning to give up anytime soon on my search. because the vast majority of the ladies i met never thought of me as a bad guy. just not the final guy for them. and i want that streak to end soon. hopefully i'll get a surprise soon and i'll be singing a different tune. but for now, it's soldier on and do the best i can.

well, the good is simply put in a few words: Bill got married to Joanne. I'm quite happy for them and to be honest, as I see them having a long life together despite the obstacles that got them to this point, and i just get this much better karma with them as a couple that makes the trip in and all the weird stuff that happened on it all worthwhile. and even though dad didn't really recognize me until the day i was leaving to come back here, it still was quite productive, even though some of it was a bit mixed personally.
as well, my audio quality is finally getting back to where it should be so this summer that will be one less thing to worry about when momma nature bombards me with more storms on a sunday night.

as for the bad, well, that happens to be in my personal life. and you've got to be saying what now? well, i went onto match.com a day after valentine's day thinking, you know time to start rebuilding my personal life here in 2012 after all that has happened the last couple of years. so i signed up, and kept my preferences to someone more local, in the metro area, so i can break the LD stuff a bit. and of course some of the comp matches were showing me ladies who were way out of my league. But one caught my eye from Stillwater. She's the one that approached me, we ended up chatting a bit and e-mailing back and forth, and things were actually looking up. it was to the point that on the tuesday a week (8 days out) before i was supposed to fly out that we were going to meet up for lunch at a restaurant over at the MoA. figured a public place, casual lunch, good way to get a feel on whether the chats and such were good or a fascade. all good so far right? well, that's when my bad luck relationship-wise struck me again. the day of the lunch, i was all showered and shaved, a decent shirt and pants, all the stuff to make a good impression. well, first off she woke up a bit late and was delayed. given that she works some wierd shifts like I do, i didn't have a problem with that and delayed heading over. Well, then she texts me on my cell and says the following: we'll have to postpone lunch, i ended up with a chemical burn because of something i used. it's like "oh no, not again" (i'll explain why in a minute). Then a couple of days later, i decided to surprise her and call her cell and see how she was doing. it ended up she didn't answer. the reason why that she texted me a few mins later: she was in the ER, low blood O2, respiratory distress, and high fever. and in my head now it's like "Oh no, wtf?, i didn't want this again". then a couple of days later after she recovered and a couple of worried IM's by me, she let me know about the details: she developed an allergic reaction to a hand lotion which she had no problems with before, was on benadryl, and a couple of days later also got a very bad case of bronchitis. she's recovering ok and was back at work. but during the time of her recovery, my mouth that can be way too wide open to what's in my mind sort of let her know why i was worried about her.

it all dated back to my days before i got the job in toronto, during the time of netscape 3. i admit i was into the chat room thing, as most of you know or should know. and well, in one of the rooms one night, i ended up bumping into a fair lady from down in berwick, pa (about the same distance from nanticoke as stillwater is from st paul). and things started off ok and the curiosity. and then after a few more nights off and on, knowing some stuff about berwick since billy was living with what was soon to be wife #1, i knew of a small donut shop there that i thought would be a good place to meet, so I asked about maybe meeting for a donut and coffee (or in my case choc milk, since i just never got into drinking coffee). she said yes, we dicked a day and time, and it was set. well that day came, i went down a couple of mins early (as i tend to habitually do for almost anything), went in and then waited for her with a donut and a drink. well, 15 mins passed, 30 mins passed, and almost an hour passed. she never showed. so i then went to hang out with bill a bit before heading back to honey pot, thinking "oh well, i guess cold feet". little do i know that while i was down there, my mom heard on the news that the lady i was going down to meet was on her way to the donut shop and was a couple of blocks away, but got plowed over in the crosswalk while having the right of way, and was in the hospital in traction with more than a few broken bones. i found out the traction part after she e-mailed me. and if you're wondering why i didn't go to the hospital to see her, well, can you imagine that situation, especially with her folks there? awkward would be the smallest word you could say. so what happened after that, we still e-mailed time to time, but it became just a plain old pen-pal like friendship. i even got a surprise from her while in toronto about a birth and wedding announcements, and then a year or two ago she found me on FB and she's on my friend list (who that is, i won't reveal for her own privacy). it's good that after all that time she still respected me enough to go out and find me. and to be honest, how am i supposed to turn down that request?

but for a while afterwords, that did haunt me a lot, and probably held me up from doing more on a relationship front. and for the most part when i fell in love with michelle that was all but history. but given the breakup with michelle, which i'm not going into, and the fact that i found someone new, i thought you know i'll finally have a shot to put everything behind me and get on with things. then you see above what happened, and while i was at home worried as heck, that memory of that fateful day in berwick came back to haunt me.

on top of all that, i found out that there was a bit of reluctance on her part to see me to begin with, given that her last relationship was with a guy supposedly rebuilding his life, well he ended up cheating on her after a couple year tight relationship. and between the fact that i am also rebuilding my life, and i had that flashback, that now i have the person who i met and was about to see if there was a next step with is questioning whether we should take that next step and meet in person because of all this baggage that got brought back up. all because of a hand lotion that became an allergen.

let's hope all of this can be overcome, one way or another. because if i lose another lady this way, through not much fault of my own, how the hell do i go forward and not have this relationship-based black cloud over me forever? i want that cloud gone and i am wanting 2012 to be a better year (no matter what the mayans or the politicians say). after all, i want to be able to have much happier stories here about myself instead of more bad luck where i don't need it.

well, there is an interesting scenario developing here. the latest models are still saying a winter storm in the twin cities the day before i depart. and well, it's a storm that may bring as much as a foot of snow to the 651-612. and it should depart here so that i should be able to fly out wednesday itself (my flight is near 1 pm, the bulk of the precip is expected thru 2 or 3 am ). but the question will be, can i get to the airport that morning with my car? main reason for that worry is two fold: will the road crews in st paul have the roads in passable shape after that type of a storm? and also i have no choice this time but airport parking as i have to get my car out of the lot either way because they will tow it out if they have to clear the lot while i am gone (and have done so in the past). on top of that, work will need the parking spots at the garage for people to park so no go there.

so, one scenario i am thinking about is taking my chances wednesday morning that the crews can do their job. another is possibly make my way down to the airport tuesday morning, park there a day early (paying an extra day's parking fees) and then either stay out at a hotel out there or book a super shuttle so that they have to drive to get me there. the third isn't really that viable given the timing of the storm, possibly try to rebook ahead of the storm, since the timing would have it happen for when i would be allowed to rebook for. we'll see what happens, but i know once i get out of MSP, i should be ok the rest of the way weatherwise.

on a day honoring the love within couples
in the east side of the cities twin
exists a bear in the troubles
wishing in love that he can win

about a year ago this time
all was not perfect but yet still possible
but while it started with a small gift sublime
it ended as a trick months later as mission impossible

a year ago i still was just getting over a stone
scraping what i could to get by
but there still was the hope for the possible couple to not be alone
as they were still allowed to be an ally

while the lovers still had a shot there was some strain
friends from one side said "why are you not sealing the deal, what are you waiting for?"
and the other's who dared me to blow up their own family with a nuclear option campaign
the eventual result from everyone's outside tampering was me alone once more

as much as i knew to heal and repair a heart of intelligence and shattered glass
and all along in love i thought it was more than lore and all a reward
but in order to save a lady tortured by one's own mother who saw only a motive so crass
i was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to end the angel's torture, fall on my own sword

so while we celebrate the day for couples in the cities twinned
and the only lady in my life is a dominating mistress known as nature
i wish i had better news in how i could figure out a way for love to have winned
but as for now it's all a search for a new companion in which i could be mature

one day soon i hope to have better news on a personal life
after all this warrior still fights despite a leg blown up
to battle the dominating mother nature whose actions still cause strife
still desires at the end of the day of battle to come home to someone who can cheer him up

so as i head out this afternoon on this day for the couple
in the land of vulcanis rex, 10000 lakes, the queen of the snows, and king boreas
my desire is so simple but so hard to keep supple
for a life not alone but one whose journey is glorious

well, since i had the night off (yea i was on call but essentially i was off), and given the political year and such tonight, I decided to head to the MN Caucuses. And since I'm a left-leaning guy (like you all didn't already know), instead of going to poison the GOP caucus, I went to my proper leanings and the DFL Caucus, held in St Paul, at the Bruce Vento Elementary School. if you're not from MN, you're probably wondering what DFL stands for. it stands for Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.

How the caucus process is as follows:

• you get there, find out what room your precinct meets at (mine is 5-9). then you head to that room and sign in.
• then after signing in and doing a bit of a meet and greet by the precinct chair and the other members of the caucus, you make your vote for in this case the presidential candidate of your choice (i'm sure in other contested races there would be ballots for those as well). but votes can be made later in the meeting as well, as long as they are in before any tallies are made.
• then once the official meeting is convened, it's the usual meeting stuff: intros, reading of eligibility requirements, affirmative action statement, etc
• you then elect a caucus chair to run the rest of the meeting
• from there, you adopt the rules of the meeting
• then you elect precinct chairs/co-chairs (do a lot of the leg work and such for the party); as well as any representatives for county/state senate district conventions
• you then propose and talk about resolutions that you or any member of the caucus you desire the party take up down the line, and then on any and all resolutions you vote on them as a precinct (and yes i proposed one that passed, more on that later)
• once all of that is done, and all the votes are in for the ballot, you count the votes in front of everyone, and then a 2nd person re-counts all the ballots as a check on the first count. once the total is confirmed, the numbers are reported
• then any other business before adjournment
• then adjourn the meeting and that's it.

in this year's DFL meeting for my precinct, there were 4 people, including the chairperson. you read that correct 4. from what i can tell similar light, but not that light a turnout for the DFL at most precinct meetings as well. I have to admit, when it came to the voting time, i did waver between uncomitted and obama, but at the end i went with renomination of President Obama.

As for the resolutions and other political discussion. there were resolutions. one on immigration, one against corporate personhood. but mine was on regulation of financial derivatives and asking for more prosecutions of those who committed fraud on financial matters (like derivatives, mortgage fraud, etc) to the point of banks and financial institutions not allowed to plea bargain without admitting fault (and officers at the time of the transaction being prosecuted, and if convicted with jail time on behalf of the company), and even saying that derivatives have to be regulated like insurance policies so that we taxpayers don't have to cover the costs of a bailout at the expense of health care and other more mandatory matters. after explaining it to everyone else, it did pass the precinct level. whether it gets any further, who knows. but at least i am on record on that.

in between different parts of the meeting, we had the state rep John Lesch and his daughter pop in, also our local county commissioner, etc here and there. nice to be able to meet show is representing me at the different levels of government. we also talked about different things going on, and finding out there are rumblings that in a couple of weeks we may have a mud-fest in st paul-stillwater. because with the addition of Stillwater and southern portions of Anoka as well as Northern Washington county into the 4th district (which before redistricting is mainly st paul and environs), we could have Michelle Bachman (yes that michelle bachman) vs Betty McCollum (the incumbent, and DFL). and to be honest if that were to happen, can you say ugly in the campaign front as well as the advertising front? so the experience overall this time wasn't bad at all.

from what i understand, in 2008 for that election, there were 150 that showed up in the same caucuses. so i could see that a bit more crazy. but it was generally friendly and straight-forward. i'll definitely be back there for the next governor's race as well as the 2016 presidental race.

and as a side-note the caucus chair apparently is a consultant on environmental projects, like wind energy and such (more the communicating the results than doing the research per se). and also she's a sky-warn spotter who maybe i have picked up for membership in the Twin Cities Meteorological Society (local AMS and NWA chapter) (we'll see but at least she knows).

so that's all from here.

Well, this past week or so, i have been pretty much burning off use or lose vacation time. So what all have i been doing back here in the twin cities?

To start things off, i have to admit, it's kinda strange in a good way eating more regular meals for a change compared to the TV dinners I have a lot at work. Are they the best meals? Not near "Iron Chef" quality. But they are much better when they are homemade than when you have stuff on the fly. I just seem to enjoy them more that way, and even eat a bit less as well. But on top of that, I did like the fact that I was comfortable enjoying a walk around the lake in January. Didn't like the fact that there's only 6" or so of ice out there, and a grey ice at that. And it was just weird that we were in the 50's when I made that walk. Because to be honest, I would have liked the ice thicker, so that I could make part of the walk on the ice, not around it. Not saying it couldn't support me because 6" probably could without an issue. But give me a foot and i'll be very comfortable and reassured.

Then once the chill started back, there were a few days of getting things straightened out in the pad, getting some long-standing chores and other minor little things like hanging the photos up from bill, joanne, and their kids; and even finally getting the holiday cards out. but other than that around the pad, I have to admit there's still a lot of mind-sorting going on.

Finally getting used to the fact that I'm fully single again. but still uncomfortable trying to end that status. Some of that is just due to the fact that as much as I can be loose on the air, and in public not anywhere near as awkward as I used to be, there's still some fear that just won't leave where if I try to approach a fair lady and say one thing wrong, that I'll end up more than a doghouse, but in the big house (just given how society is). Add that to having to rebuild a better sense of stability of cash since bills with the car, hospital/docs bills, and other increases without increases in pay (economy derived, not because work didn't want to give me a raise, because they wanted to; as i'm sure a lot of people are going through with their jobs) is just not giving as much confidence that I can weather too many more storms, no matter how well I manage my money otherwise, it doesn't help my marketability. But i'll have to fight that anyway and like a politician and try to de-emphasize the negative. And as a 3rd bit against me, it seems that Michelle's mom finally laid off of her and she's actually picking up confidence in herself enough to pick up a new guy more quickly. So then again, it seems that I'm the guy that helps ladies get through rough times and transition, but not the one for the rest of her life. I don't want to be the transition guy, but the guy in which hopefully I am the last stop. I am starting to wonder if all I am bound to be is the knight in shining armor that can save people from distress, but then just gets a small reward and heads back to the castle with nothing more than battle experience. Either that, or an advisor that can't apply his own advice on himself because he's used up all his resources on solving others' problems and not leaving anything left to solve his own. I am hoping in 2012 that I can finally break that cycle, but we'll see what happens there.

That all being said, there were a few highlights around here as well. One of those social moments being the Red Bull "Crashed Ice" race weekend. How I can describe it best is that snowboarding/skiing where they go 4-across and first across the line wins, except on a twisty track of ice with ice skates. The temps were good for the event, with near 10F for Friday night, and between 15-20F for Saturday night. the music was going, the crowd was quite good despite 60+K people crammed into a small space on cathedral hill in St Paul. And the track, of course we had the most technical one on the circuit's history. Good in that it weeded out the good skaters from the bad. But bad in that there were more than a few injuries as a result. a broken shoulder or two, some cracked ribs, and 3-4 broken legs (one of them shattered and/or compound fracture), etc. For the fans, one thing abut the track that made it like a street-circuit/permanent road course is that you couldn't see the full track from any one vantage point (which was remedied by big screen tv's). But it's a track for sure I'm sure the best skating of my friends here would have problems with, much less me which would probably have ended up coming down like the ski-jumper on the intro to wide world of sports. But it was a blast to be at none the less, knowing that security was being taken care of by one of my friends at the weekly poker game and that it was something to do that distracted me on a Friday night an Saturday night (something i don't get to do often on my shifts). And not only do I have some photos up at flickr, but as I understand it, it'll be on NBC this weekend (if the graphs on the digital listings are correct 2pm ET/1 CT, but be sure to check your local listings). and how knows, maybe you might even see me on there from Friday night, in a hat of orange, but not rooting for the Dutch (despite the guy doing the unexpected crowd interview thinking otherwise).

Sunday was pretty much a rest-day. But Monday, was a bit of a planned/unplanned day as I made my way up to Duluth for a few hours. Why? Just to be there. Not only is it one of the larger cities in this state, but it's also one of the main shipping hubs and a chance for me to dip my hands into another of the great lakes. And as it turns out, actually a city with a lot of historic roots, some local home-made pride, and even brick-paved streets in the downtown. I may not has spent as much time there as some would say is totally necessary, but it was more to explore and say I was there more than anything else. It definitely laid the foundation in case i wanted to make any trips to the north shore (and maybe Thunder Bay someday). But it was a 2 1/4 hour trip each way that was an enjoyable day out of the den, and one I needed. Some photos from there are also on flickr.

As for what I do today and tomorrow to end things off before heading back to work Friday, I have some laundry to get done today. and tomorrow, I head up to running aces to take a shot at the poker tables, cash-game style. Being that it would be my first cash game, I am going on the cheap table (2/4 limit poker) for no other reason than I can't really afford any of the bigger tables. And only going up with say 40 or so. the reason why a cash game? Well, I got a voucher from my player's club card (not like i use it much but I registered anyway a while ago). And it was for 10 bucks at the tables as a birthday gift (yes that is Saturday, btw, turning 38), whether at the black-jack table or after an hour at one of the cash poker tables, but it can't be used for tourney buy-ins as I understand the fine print, or i would have used it for that. but i'll find out for sure tomorrow.

But despite all of that, and seeing birchwood management allegedly finally cripple my mom for spite and greed using allegedly illegal means (the birchwood nursing staff and orderlies doing a great job so they're not the issue, just their management doing the hatchet-job to my mom financially), the time off is what I needed for the most part after a year of excessive stress on myself and a roller-coaster of emotions to say the least. Let's hope as I start the new year that I can survive it and make my life better than the last one, despite it being an election year.

cheers folks.

talk about a year in weather and other natural disasters. yea i watched a good part of the Weather Channel's "Weather by the Billions". and also there was a different special last night on TWC. As well, the BBC did a half-hour special on the past year (this past sunday night, for anyoe who has BBC World News), which was actually quite good from a global perspective, which i can't find the link to but when i do i'll be sure to provide it. But this year in weather and environmental matters, it's been a hum-dinger.

it started off, at least for me, with the 2nd of 2 blizzards (where i got stuck at work due to the roads being shut down). then a blizzard caused havoc for even little old phil on top of gobbler's knob, as well as a vast majority of the northeast US.

and once everyone dug out of that, then the 9.0 quake just off the coast of Japan that brought a tsunami into the north coast of Japan worse than the one that hit Indonesia and India a couple of years ago, even to the point of the Fukashima Meltdown (4 reactors partially or fully melted down, making it as bad or worse than Cherynobyl).

then when we got to spring, we had the big snow melt that flooded the Mississippi, Missouri, and Souris river valleys; and tremendous rainfall in the Ohio Valley. All that water coming down the Mississippi Watershed to the point that they had to open a causeway in Louisiana that hasn't been opened since before Camille in order to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans. These floods also caused major problems to more than a few towns in central Minnesota, caused near-record flooding in St Paul (combo of the mississippi and backwash from the minnesota rivers).

And while that was going on, we had 6, yes six multi-day tornado outbreaks this year. usually in the US we have more than a few 1-day events and few squall-lines from Hades. But these multi-day outbreaks were quite nasty, causing more than a billion dollars of damage a piece, and a total of 20+ EF-4- or EF-5 tornadoes (like Tuscaloosa and Joplin). and in the day when the Tuscaloosa tornadoes hit, that was a near-record day of long-track tornadoes. The St Louis Airport also took a direct hit, OKC came close a couple of times, Minny had an F-2 on the north end, and also stage collapses at major events in Ottawa and Indianapolis because of thunderstorm wind gusts (which makes me wonder why the people weren't evacuated for those two storms as they were telegraphed on radar, imho). we also had a confirmed f-2 tornado come off of Lake Huron and come through downtown Goderich, Ontario (they're usually more likely further inland near London, KW, and Barrie).

And on top of that, a little old lady called Irene brought her wrath to the NJ shore and the NC Outer Banks bringing flooding there. then several weeks later, adding rain from Irene, a stalled front bring copious rainfall to a good deal of the northeast, and then the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. Lee brought with him another 10+ inches to most of the Susquehanna Watershed north and main branches. And all that water had to go somewhere. well, it brought flooding that when checked later, that was almost 2 feet higher at Wilkes Barre than the last major Disaster, a seemingly weak storm called Agnes. And this flooding, while not quite as widespread in square-mileage as the mississippi/missouri//ohio/souris flooding, had the potential to be worse. And there were more than a few moments of panic as the dikes were holding in the Wyoming Valley, Binghamton, and other areas, that everybody was fearing the worst. For the valley cities, those fears abated after a few scares. But downstream in Shickshinny, Berwick, and especially Bloomsburg and Harrisburg, they were not so lucky. The Bloomsburg Fair was all-out cancelled for the first time ever in its 157 year history due to the damage. And in Vermont, they had massive damage on their roads and bridges that they are still re-building.

And that's not all. We also had a major snowstorm just before Halloween. where? not the midwest, which Minnesota experienced more than a few years go. But in the northeast US. Including some thundersnow in Harrisburg and up in Hartford.

And just to add to all of that, the combination of La Nina and a couple of Typhoons, the Phillipines and Thailand also had copious amounts of flooding. While this happens to the Phillipines a lot, given their placement on the edge of the ring of fire, Thailand not so much as the monsoon trades usually kick in sooner or later. Well, in Thailand, the flooding is almost over. But the damage is Done. This wouldn't be as big a story except for one major factor. Guess what piece of now seemingly innocous piece of everyday hardware is produced there? the Conventional Computer Hard Drive (thanks to globalization). And in case you haven't noticed these days, you go to a place like best buy, new egg, circuitcity.com, or some other tech shopping site; well conventional hard drives are now in very short supply, to the point where they are currently double or higher in price than in the summer. for computer users, it's made for interesting choices: either pay the extra cash for extra capacity, or do they go to solid-state drives which are in good supply but not as cheap?

Now you're saying, that's a lot of places that have way too much water. someone's got to be a bit short because of that. Well, if there was a way to do it, I'm sure the places that had too much would have gladly given some to Texas and east Africa. those areas of the globe have been undergoing massive, record-breaking droughts. a lot of that because of pattern shifts due to La Nina. And also a bit of crappy luck as well. But the dryness allowed for massive famine in the case of east Africa, and in Texas's case massive wildfires which caused a billion or so dollars of damage. There were also more big-time wild-fires out in the southwest US.

and let's not forget that 6.0 quake that caused a lot of shaking from beantown to chi-town, from the T-dot to the finer Carolinas.

So what does this all forebode heading into the year where everybody is worried about the end of the mayan calendar? i'm not sure. i know we've hit record highs here in the twin cities. and the Great Lakes aren't yet at least partly frozen over (which they should be by now). But I know winter is only starting and momma nature has yet to unveil her lessons from Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld (other than on me, but that's another topic for another time). So for at least another year, at least she, teaming up with the other deities and natural forces controlling the earth, will keep guys like me and other meteorologists on our toes. But we all need a bit of a break to recover after the events of this year.

be safe all.