There Hereeeee!

The gray of the long winter sky is being replaced this evening by the boiling blue sky of spring. It's tornado season!

Actually, tornadoes have occurred in every month except January. But, we are days away from the best part of the year. I am a spotter for the county and when everyone else heads for the basement, I head for the hills--the tops of some of the tallest ones in the county.

If you have learned anything, you probably know it is not a good idea to go to the top of a hill to watch a thunderstorm. They come packaged with lighting and lightning loves high place. I have heard the loud snap of a strike a couple of times so that should tell you I am too close. But, I stay inside the car and hopefully well grounded in my civic hobby.

And I am not alone. There are usually 30 some of us out on 30 some hills talking to a person who is talking to Lancaster Emergency Management. They look for stuff on radar and then we tell them if the stuff is there. The stuff is high winds and of course, rotation, wall clouds, and that little funnel looking thing looking for a place to land and turn into a big thing.

You have no idea how much fun it is to watch that happen.

Yea spring!

Repawed

Yes, the cast is off and the doctor has officially released me in a repawed status. The paw is a little stiff but is handling the keys pretty good right now. Thank God.

This has been a long month. If you take a look at the cast in a post past, you will see it squeezed my little finger into the next door brother. Now that may not seem like a big inconvenience, but on the keyboard, you got ;' instead of ;. My dear ole dad was a two finger typist so he would have gotten along nicely.

Hats off to John Hall and his friendly insurance company! They are paying the hospital bill. I am kind of surprised to be honest. The adjuster was really concerned about how much money I made. When we got by the idea that I was only looking for a little help on the medical bills and not trying to stick John for a settlement, things moved right along. After all, it was an accident. I hated that it happened. I also hated that it happened on a friend's property. If I had seen the ice, maybe none of this would have happened. But, as Dr. Laura likes to say...life happens when you are making other plans.

Indeed it did. But I am on the way back! Thanks John. Thanks cool Dr. Matt. Thanks my best buddy Scott!

Great Speeches by President Hagel

Did you catch the press conference? There were quite a few folks there. Fox cut in live. I imagine CNN did, too. I bet some folks were even sitting on Hagel for President signs. Maybe an NU pep band was in the wings ready to play Hail Varsity. (That's what they play when the real President comes to Nebraska.)

It may have been the most exciting day in Nebraska since word got out that Debra Winger was hanging out in sin in the Governor's Mansion.

But everything fizzled. No memorable speech. No memorable phases. Nothing. What a shame. One can only wonder what times past would have been like with Hagel as President...

"Four score and seven years ago, or maybe eight, I am not sure..."

"Ask not what your country can do for you, well maybe you can ask, I will let you know in a few weeks..."

"The bombing will start in five minutes...well maybe tomorrow...I need some time to talk with some other people, maybe next year..."

He was suppose to split the party right down the middle with an anti-war platform. He was suppose to attract anti-war liberals from the left. CNN's Bill Snyder was really excited.

And so was the crowd. Until Hagel spoke.

Can you imagine someone that decisive with his finger on the nuclear trigger?

Pack up the horns, boys. If there is going to be a strong presidential candidate from Nebraska, my money is on a guy named Nelson.

The Sound of a Super Hero

I would probably be a big 24 fan but there is only one problem. I can't hear it that well. Jack Bauer whispers through most of it. That is just not very super-heroee.

When I was a kid, I could hear The Lone Ranger 20 feet away with part of a peanut butter sandwich stuck in my ear. (We didn't worry about earcoli back then.) But try to listen to Jack. He whispers to Cloe. I can't get by that name either. The Buchanan's fat beagle was named Cloe. Go figure.

I never had a problem with hearing Festus, Matt, Kitty, or Doc. Muley could get a "whad he say?" out of my dad but the others did just fine. If you don't know what show that was, well you just don't know great television.

I don't know if I will ever get into 24 because of the whispering. It doesn't seem fair, does it? Just think where the country would be today if Archie had whispered to Edith?