Chase Log - April 18, 2005 - Geneva, NE

Had some interesting weather around Lincoln today--good enough to warrant my first storm chase of 2005! Two supercells were straddling I-80 west of Lincoln near York, so Matt, Adam, and I figured we had a good chance of at least one of them doing something interesting!

All times are CDT.

We left Lincoln at approximately 19:30 from Exit 399 and headed west on I-80. We turned off I-80 at exit 369 and headed south on NE-80E to Friend. We were treated to some brilliant golden clouds and relatively peaceful conditions along the way.

At Friend, we went east on US-6 until turning south on NE-15. Shortly thereafter, we encountered torrential rain (the NWS estimated rainfall amounts at 2-3"/hr) and small to mid-sized hail. Fearing we were nearing the core, and with daylight quickly fading, we turned west on NE-41. This proved to be very fortunate, as we avoided the core and were soon rewarded with a dancing wall cloud south and west of Milligan! The wall cloud was fairly disorganized and dissipated about the same time we reached US-81 at Geneva. While we weren't able to watch the wall cloud for long, it was still quite fun, as it was beautifully backlit by the frequent lightning.

At US-81 we headed south for a short time before turning east onto NE-74 and stopping near Strang in hopes the wall cloud might reappear. Alas, the storm's energy was cut off by a more powerful storm further to the south, and our evening ended due to insufficient light levels. We took US-81 north to I-80 and returned to Lincoln.

Not too bad for a half-assed first storm chase! We had time to refine our "famous last words of storm chasers" humor and introduced Adam to the fun. Some people do drugs, some do extreme sports...I chase storms... A big thanks to Matt for graciously sacrificing his car for our noble quest!

On a more frustrating note, at the junction of US-81 and NE-74, a congregation of truckers had pulled onto the shoulder to wait out the storm. While this alone isn't bad, a few local redneck ranchers had decided to park their pickups and horse trailers in the southbound driving lanes of US-81! They were standing outside their trucks talking to each other and watching the storm--oblivious to the traffic hazard they were creating by blocking one of the two southbound lanes! As we passed, I angrily yelled at them to move their trucks out of the driving lanes. I swear, people have no common sense and/or respect for others. At least they moved their trucks.

Judicial Appointees

I'm getting really sick of all the complaining being done by the "liberal" media on how the Democrats are blocking an unprecedented number of Bush's judicial nominees. The spineless Democrats in power right now have blocked approximately ten of Bush's nominees.

Under Clinton, the Republicans blocked at least 60 nominees. I've seen the number be as high as 167. A conservative website, JudicialSelection.org, while defending the Republicans against these numbers, admit the Republicans blocked at least 102 nominees.

It's utterly disgusting how skillfully the conservatives are able to manipulate the media and the American public...

Here's a very good analysis of the situation: Fun Facts

Fantastic Friday?

So the girlfriend is comin' down to Lincoln for a quick visit today. She'll only be here for a few hours before heading right back to North Platte, but what can ya do? A few hours is better than none, I guess.

For those who might not know, Toya is back in NP to work and make some cash for about two months. She makes more working at the Sonic restaurant than working here at Shopko. Plus tips from carhopping... Money=good. Being separated from your gal=bad.

Oh well, only six more weeks of suffering. /=

...And drinking will ensue...

Husker Football

So the annual Red & White scrimmage is coming up next Saturday. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm really not as interested in Husker football anymore; haven't been ever since the disgraceful way Steve Pederson handled the whole Frank Solich fiasco. Not to mention I despise any highly pass oriented offense. Nevertheless, I still want the Huskers to win--it's just not as fun ever since the fabled tradition and option offense were erased from the program.

Today, however, I became quite concerned over the prospects for a brighter football future today. What follows is the (relevant) text of an advertisement appearing in today's Daily Nebraskan:

Nebraska Football
Walk-On Tryouts

Kickers, Punters &
Long Snappers

Informational Meeting
Mon. April 11, 4:30 p.m.

...

Woah. Neo "woah," even. This is not good, and brings up a couple of serious questions. Why didn't the coaching staff try harder to recruit more special teams players if the situation was so bad? More importantly, why the hell did they wait until this far into spring practice to put out an S.O.S.?! Nevermind the fact I've never heard of Husker football recruiting players with an advertisement--ever. Maybe back in the '40s and '50s, but not in my lifetime!

And to think: Callahan is the one that scaled back the storied walk-on program at Nebraska, deeming it unworthy of his time... I'm too disgusted to even try analyzing this further.

Weehaw!

Just a few things:

• Power naps are wonderful
• Throwing a surprise party is more fun than I thought
• You're girlfriend leaving for two months sucks
• Looks like it could be an interesting weather day today, muahaha!
  

Voting time again...

Looks like Lincoln's primary election is tomorrow (April 5th). After doing some research, I've compiled a (small) list of who's getting my vote. (Research? You mean we aren't supposed to believe everything they say in the ads on TV? Wow!)

For Lincoln City Council:

• Dan Marvin (D)
  
• Ken Svoboda (R)
  
• Terry Werner (D)
  

Yes, they're all incumbents. But they're incumbents that have voted favorably on a couple of important issues--the Antelope Valley Project (AVP) and Lincoln Smoking Ban. Lincoln--and especially the University of Nebraska--needs the AVP to eliminate downtown (and citywide) congestion. Upon completion, overall traffic flow will be diverted around campus instead of through it. Furthermore, there will be a new waterway running just to the northeast of campus, and east of downtown, which will provide for greenspace and hopefully kindle some economic redevelopment of the area.

As for the smoking ban, well, let's just say this is one of the greatest pieces of legislation to come out of this town in a long time...

For District 3 Board of Education:

• Barbara Baier (D)
  

Baier seems to realize how important schools are for society and seems hesitant to cut programs--especially arts and other electives. She even wants to alter the landscaping of the schools to native species, which would definitely lower upkeep costs. How's that for thinking "outside the box?" (At least for Nebraska...) Furthermore, she apparently is a supporter of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender rights. Baier sounds like a pretty good choice to me.

Now get out there and vote, damnit!

Find your polling place and other pertinent info here.

My contribution to internet land...

Time to add to the plethora of useless junk on the internet! Huzzah! Kind of ironic that I chose April 1st to start my blog. Wonder if that erases any sense of credibility I may have had? Happy April Fools Day, y'all.

Damn, it's late...