TornadoWitch

The "wayseer" movment, really??!!!!! WTF is that all about

2011-06-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some, who read this blog, are also friends with me, on various social media outlets that I use, such as Facebook and twitter. Those who follow me there may have seen a particular video/web page advertised on my Facebook called “The Wayseer Manifesto” both of which have since been removed.

The video was posted by another fb friend who has absolutely nothing to do with my love of storm chasing, as she is not a storm chaser or weather enthusiast, not that I am aware of anyway. However, she shared the video with me based on the comments I tend to make in the “status” section on FB, which is understandable and she is correct, I do feel the same as she does, our ideas mesh and we are like-minded and our ideas are often misunderstood or unaccepted.

I watched the video and yes, I must admit I was intrigued. Imagine that, there really are others out there who understand my point of view, as many tend to agree with a statement here and there, but otherwise question or argue other statements that I make. This is in no way meant to insult the person who posted the video, as based on my conversation with her last night, she is correct, she and I do have a lot in common and I am honored to have her as a friend on Facebook.

The video touched something deep inside, the words to the song spoke to the person I keep hidden from most and finally, I was assured that I was not alone. The video offered an assault of images that portrayed historical figures that have in one way or another moved humanity into a more tolerant and accepting present day direction and promises to continue to do so. However, I found I was forced to pay more attention to the images than to what was being said. I found that to be questionable, as I also noticed that the words (being sung) did not quite follow the text, telling me most of the meaning of the song was being lost in the images.

I went to the web site, took the test and finally read the words to the song. As I was reading it, I was reminded of the point in my life when I discovered Dianetics and that in and of itself made me question the entire movement.

The test however, did state that I am a wayseer, as I scored 90%, but that, the very fact that I am a so-called wayseer forced me to walk away from the inspiring words and pretty pictures and actually consider the movement.

As I did this, I was left with not only questions, but a nagging knot in my gut that told me this “movement” is not all that it is cracked up to be. One of the things I question regularly is anyone who would appoint themselves an expert or anyone who would claim to know exactly how I feel. We might be like minded individuals and we might share some amount of passion and insight on world events, but that does not mean you “Know Me”, hell not even Shane really knows me.

I spent many years soul searching, trying to find those who would understand and accept me, only to discover each time, that the leader of each movement was a con artist. In all honesty, I discovered that most were individuals who were looking for nothing more than a way to herd the sheep into their sick and demented little belief system; simply put, they were seeking a position of power over an ignorant and often misunderstood portion of the population.

They offer an attractive and alluring window dressing with words that touches ones soul and ignites a flame of burning desire that forces one to follow the leader, to become part of the herd. Only to learn that once the follower assumes they too have found the way, the ugly truth behind the movement emerges and by then it is too late for most to find their way out.

Take L. Ron Hubbard and the church of Scientology for instance, no really take them.

Have any of you read his book; Dianetics, because I have. While the book does offer an indebt and surprisingly interesting look into the psychology of the human mind, some of which is accurate, the “religion” that stems from this book claims that the world will one day be destroyed by the Galactic over lord Xenu, does anyone else see the problem with this? This wayseer states on his facebook page that dead artists and philosophers have endorsed him; personally, I do not see much of a difference between that statement and Xenu, the Galactic over lord, but hey, that is just the “wayseer” in me.

Although I know that there are millions of level headed and sane individuals in the world today. Individuals whom are NOT overly consumed with the desire to be completely accepted by seemingly “like-minded” people, there are still millions who follow the Church of Scientology and other groups like it, groups that I believe and I fear include the Wayseer.

These people actually assume that despite the facts about suicides, deaths due to maltreatment by church members and officials, and the fact that thousands of families continue to search for loved ones who have been consumed by such movements, their leaders “know and understand the way”. L. Ron Hubbard is only the beginning, news of such organizations and the unfortunate demise of their followers can be found throughout history and I am often left to wonder, what the hell is it that draws seemingly intelligent and sane individuals into these religions or movements?

It seems to me that these “followers” are individuals who are completely incapable of thinking for themselves, as we have all been raised in an environment that has taught us to rely on others to fulfill our needs. Most of us are forced to play follow the leader in a game of see who can die with the most toys, while remaining diligent in our efforts not to piss off society in the process, I get it. An environment, which has forced us to believe that we, as unique individuals could not possibly be accepted by society, such as the leader of the “wayseer” and author of a book by the same name, goes to great lengths to point out.

I know, as I am certain many others do that this is not a fact. Although we may be forced to live in a way that is socially acceptable, changes have been and continue to be made by individuals who are leaders and not followers and one day the populace will come to see and accept “our gifts”.

Until then, unfortunately, you will have do just like the rest of us, suck it up and move on as I do not believe there will ever be any sort of “real leader” that can make life better for you, that is something you will have to accomplish on your own.

The author and self-appointed leader of the wayseer claims to have hundreds of thousands of followers, which frightens me because I have the distinct feeling that we will see yet another Jones town, Waco or Heaven’s Gate massacre. Although, on a lighter note, if they do kill themselves off in the hundreds of thousands it would leave more of the precious natural resources humanity needs for our continued survival.

I would suggest that the wayseers use their energy, their ideas, their unique individuality to question the powers that be, question this self appointed leader, force him to show you what lies beneath his reason for starting such a movement. Remember that the leaders, who made the most progress in changing our way of thinking, did so quietly, you know the individuals who appear in the video. Mother Theresa did not ask for your money, Martin Luther King did not ask you to buy his books and Gandhi did not claim to know you or ask you to become a part of his tribe. I too believe that your gifts, our gifts can be used to change the world but I think it is obvious based on the historical evidence that following such a leader or movement is not the way to do it.

I'm shipping up to Boston...

2011-06-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Yup, it is that time of the year again, that awesome season of summer where I get to feel like a mom again. I will be heading out at the end of June to ( find my wooden leg) ok, pick up my wonderful little boy Tavis and bring him back to Texas for a fun filled summer of swimming and sunning. One of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life time was leave my boy’s in Massachusetts when I headed west to chase.

The decision to leave him behind when I left Massachusetts, was not made lightly and I only agreed to it because my boy told me that he really wanted to spend the school portion of the year with his father in Massachusetts. I understood, since that is where his friends are and that is where he wants to attend school. As some know, there are other reasons why I left, but I will not post it here. As much as it bothered me to agree with him, I also realized that a divorce is tough enough on a child to begin with, therefore a child should not have to deal with his or her parents fighting like starving dogs fighting over a piece of meat. Making the child nothing more than a pawn in their little game of pain and suffering.

I believe that is the situation with most parents’ who divorce and I believe that it is childish of them to use their children as a pawn in their little game. As much as I did not want to do it, I realized that I am the adult here and I needed to act like one. It is not the best situation as I miss both my boys desperately, but I am aware that my decision is what is best for everyone involved, especially my boys.

My decision concerning my oldest was much easier, as Korben desperately needs to live close to his doctors in Boston, because for him, it is more of a life or death situation, given his current health issues. I have not yet had a chance to bring him to Texas, as he is still not ready to travel, but that day will come. However, for him, I make special trips back to Boston and spend weeks at a time by his side such as I will doing this fall, but that will wait for another blog post.

In addition to that, I will be going straight to Boston to spend a week with a dear friend of mine who I love and fight with just as I would any relative of mine, and that is why I call her my sister. It has been at least two years since she and I have hung out, and I am really looking forward to catching up and possibly spending an afternoon walking the beach and swimming. I am seriously going to miss Shane, but it will be a fun week nonetheless and I cannot wait.

The tickets have been purchased and soon the packing will commence, until then however, it is back to algebra for me.

Tornadoes Rip a Path of Destruction through Western Massachusetts. Pt 2

2011-06-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last night Shane decided to surf youtube in search of videos from the June 1, 2011 tornadoes in Massachusetts. In his search, he came across the video located here and as I watched it alongside of him, I found myself becoming more and more disappointed by what I was seeing; because although I did see a fair amount of this broadcast live, I did not actually see the first 10 or 15 minutes of it. I have this video posted on FB where there is an ongoing conversation about how ignorant these TV meteorologists appear to be as they are reporting the situation.

What I find so disappointing is that these meteorologists are looking at a radar signature that clearly calls for a little more urgency then they appear to be showing. It was at that moment that (I believe), they should have been warning people in the area to take cover however, they do not. Then they go to the live video, which I am assuming is coming from a camera sitting at the top of their broadcast station, where it is obvious to me that there is already a tornado in progress. However, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and realizing this is something they are not use to seeing, I can let it go for the first two or three seconds, however, it is clear by: 33 that they were looking at a tornado on the ground. What do these guys do instead of reporting the obvious; they continue to debate the situation for close to a minute, before they state that yes a tornado is on the ground and at that point causing damage. Worse of all, they do not even correctly report where the tornado is located.

If you look closely, even the untrained eye can see the wall cloud is rapidly rotating; there is debris on the ground and scud moving into the base, yes folks, that is a tornado in progress. Between: 39 and: 43 (I am referring to seconds here) you would have to be blind not to notice the tornado; however, they do not actually call the tornado until 1:11. By that time, it is too late, because folks whom were watching the broadcast and relying on them for necessary life saving information have absolutely no time to take cover and some have already been hit.

Had this been spotters from Western Mass, I would be slightly more understanding of the situation, because no matter how much I preach about the fact that tornadoes do happen in Mass, the truth is that most never see this sort of obvious progression. These are trained meteorologists, they go to school to learn about the weather how could they have missed something like this!!!!

If you are thinking Bridget, cut them some slack, we all make mistakes, I say bullocks, my family and my friends live in Massachusetts, they are not use to this sort of situation and they rely on these folks for the information they need to survive. I am extremely thankful that all are safe and I am astonished that only four people died, but I am concerned that when this happens again the outcome might not be so positive.

Tornadoes do happen in Massachusetts, on average Massachusetts sees approximately three tornadoes a year and at least one of them will be large and destructive. It is high time that the people who Massachusetts residents rely on for this information, learn the warning signs and learn how to properly report such a situation. The fact that weather enthusiasts, not chasers, living in other parts of the country were screaming at their computer screens (TORNADO ON THE GROUND, WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE); while the meteorologists were trying to decide if they were looking a rotating wall cloud or not, tells me that these guys still have a lot to learn. I have a saying, “1000 false alarms are worth it, when the one that saves your life comes over the airwaves”, don’t believe me, just ask those who lost their lives on June 1, 2011 or better yet, ask those they left behind if they would have done things differently, had they known what was coming.

On a positive note, I have learned that yes, there are tornado sirens located at the University of Massachusetts, while this is undoubtedly a good thing, more needs to come from it. Government officials need to take the same initiative as the folks at UMass and place tornado sirens throughout Massachusetts. The aftermath of a tornado can be devastating, property loss can leave several citizens homeless, but that is something that can be helped through the generous nature of citizens throughout the country who donate to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other nonprofit organizations. However, these people no matter how generous they are cannot replace the lives of those who are lost. The only way one can survive is to be aware, be informed and PURCHASE A BLOODY WEATHER RADIO, because one of these silly and sometimes annoying devices can and do save lives.

Tornadoes Rip a Path of Destruction through Western Massachusetts.

2011-06-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, as unbelievable as it may seem, there were 7 tornadoes reported in Massachusetts yesterday, June 1, 2011. As most people know, I am a native of Western Massachusetts, I moved to Oklahoma and eventually Texas three years ago because of the crazy desire, I have to chase tornadoes. I realized that living in Massachusetts would not offer me the same opportunities to chase, as I would have in the plains so I packed my bags back in '08 and I left. Despite yesterdays 7 tornadoes in Massachusetts that I missed, I have seen over 50 since I moved out here. This includes the Rice Texas Tornado, pictured above. That shot was taken as I sat in the car with the tornado about a ¼ mile to my SE and one in which we possesses some of the most amazing video ever shot of a tornado, although very few people are aware of that thanks to the “I’m in the tornado guy”.

I was informed of the situation unfolding in Western Mass via a text message that Shane had sent me, stating that a tornado was reported in West Springfield. Considering I once lived in West Springfield and that I have friends and family living in the area, I became as one could imagine, understandably concerned and immediately grabbed my phone and started calling everyone I knew back in Mass. What I learned when talking to one friend was that, not only was West Springfield hit in the exact area where I lived back in ’01, but that the situation was still unfolding.The link above will take you to one of the most heartbreaking news stories I have seen so far, our prayers are with the survivors.

My friend, Bill, suggested that I hop on line and check WWLP channel 22 as there was video shot of the tornado as it passed by the news station. I visited the web site and sure enough, there was video of an impressive looking tornado as it ripped a path of destruction in yet another area of Massachusetts that I once lived in. In addition to this video, there was live coverage of the event as well as a chat room of sorts where people were discussing the event.

I saw two women in the chatroom on WWLP Channel 22 website, both understandably frightened and both of whom stated I am in Chicopee, I am home alone with my children and I am scared… what do I do. Well ladies, my heart goes out to the two of you, however, the information that you were looking for does and has always existed here , please read it, everyone, as these tips will help you to remain calm and be prepared should such a situation present itself again.

Although all of this was extremely exciting on my end, as I live for these sort of events, it was also quite disappointing and I found it frightening; how unprepared the public was and how incapable the meteorologists were of not only discussing the situation but also at giving the public the necessary life saving information they so desperately needed.

I am not knocking the folks over at channel 22, as they did the best they could with the experience they have, because tornadoes with the ability to do as much damage as was seen yesterday are rare in Massachusetts, but not unheard of. I assume the reason we have living legends such as Gary England in the plains, and radar that would put the technology in Mass to shame is due to the lack of large and destructive tornadoes and tornado emergencies in Western Mass, which deems such individuals and programs, unnecessary. So again, I am not knocking the meteorologists in Mass, I am just not use to seeing these situations handled in such a seemingly amateur way.

The fact of the matter is that large destructive tornadoes can, have and will happen again in Western Mass. This is not some dooms day prophecy or any of that sort of crap, but a fact, as we are dealing with Mother Nature here, a large, destructive and almost completely unpredictable force. All you need for such an event is the right atmospheric mixture and poof you have a tornado, and the fact that Massachusetts is situated in a valley offers you no protection, that is an old wives tale or something and one that I believe was thoroughly disproved yesterday. It has been proven wrong before, but I am assuming that too much time has passed since the June 9, 1953 Worcester F4-F5 tornado flattened parts of Worcester Massachusetts and the knowledge of this event has been since wiped from the memories of most Massachusetts residents. If you think I am making this up, follow the link or research it on your own, I think the sheer number of reported tornadoes in Massachusetts, since then, will shock you.

I was disappointed in myself for not realizing that such an event was getting ready to present itself yesterday, as Spring has been nothing more than a nightmare of devastating events which ensured that Shane and I would suffer one of the worst chase seasons ever. Ever since the morons over at the wal-mart automotive center destroyed our car, the season has been null and our tornado count for the year is shameful given the type of tornado season we have seen thus far. Therefore, I have all but ignored all forecasts and forecasting; I have instead devoted all of my time to school. For those who might read this but do not know us, we do not have government grants or major networks supporting us when we chase, we support our chase season with money made from the sale of storm chasing DVDs and any money we are able to save during the off season. Therefore, something as silly as our car being destroyed does have a devastating effect on us and our ability to chase.

The one thing that folks living in Massachusetts have going for them is the low number of reported deaths, as I am seeing a total of four so far, amazing, considering the path of destruction that was left by these tornadoes and something which everyone should be thankful for.

What you have against you is the false belief, this fairy tale that states that tornadoes do not strike Massachusetts and therefore no one really needs to take warnings and watches seriously. I am willing to bet that most people living in Massachusetts do not own a NOAA weather radio or have ever even heard of them and I know that there are no tornado sirens in Massachusetts. Even if there are, I know they are not tested and I have never heard one go off during a severe weather event.

I still remember the first time I heard one go off in Norman OK, one bright and sunny afternoon, I thought for sure we were being bombed because why else would I be hearing air raid sirens. Of course, folks out here explained that these were tornado sirens and that they are tested every Friday at noon when there is no severe weather in the area. These sirens are extremely important as they inform folks who might be working or playing outside that there is a very real possibility of a tornado touchdown in their neighborhood.

I do hope that yesterday’s events will wake the good people of Massachusetts up to the very real possibility of this happening again. I do hope that people will read the tornado safety guide which can be found here and that people will start to take both the watches and warnings offered by the SPC and the folks at your local TV stations seriously, all of which will allow people to be better prepared next time such an event occurs. In addition, I hope that government officials will give serious thought to placing tornado sirens in towns throughout Massachusetts; as they are life saving devises used during such severe weather events. Lastly, I hope this causes a rise in the sales of NOAA weather radios throughout Massachusetts, trust me folks, if you had one of these in your home, you would have been informed of the situation well in advance of it hitting your town and you would have had ample time to prepare for it.

I also hope that more people will take the spotter training classes offered throughout Massachusetts seriously as well. These classes are offered free to the public and they do explain not only what one should do during a tornado or severe weather event, but they also teach you what to look for in the case of such an event. In addition, they explain the magical atmospheric mixture that causes tornadoes to form and how to recognize a storm that can produce a tornado and finally they will answer the; OMG THE SKY IS DARK THE WINDS ARE PICKING UP THERE IS THUNDER AND LIGHTENING; WHAT DO WE DO; WHAT DOES THIS MEAN; questions.

There were major tornado outbreaks all over the country this year and in some areas entire towns were wiped off the planet and hundreds of lives were lost. These events have happened in the past, they will continue to happen and the best defense that anyone has is to be prepared. These storms are not getting any worse, this is not some onslaught of death and destruction offered up by a cruel and vengeful God, this is simply a case of the right elements coming together and of people being completely ignorant of what it means, of how to react and how to survive. The information exists folks, use it as it will teach one how to prevent tornado stupidity.

Death Ridge and New Possibilities

2009-05-21T09:36:00.001-07:00

I think I am starting to see first hand just what this "death ridge" thing is all about. Not only does it place a hold on chases for days on end, but it slowly drives chasers insane. SDS in the middle of storm season, good god what are we being punished for? After the amazing year I had in 08 I can say that I am feeling the pain of this as much as the rest of you are. And I have my fingers crossed that I will get at least one more chance at a full condensation before the season is up.

Until then however I have decided that it's time to explore other possibilities in my life. Growing up I had more then one passion. Considering that as a child I never believed I would get the chance to actually chase storms, I set aside that desire, and turned my attention to my other passion. That would be my fascination with the paranormal. My love for scary movies is not just because having the shit scared out of me is fun, but also because I am drawn to the unknown. I was the kid that sat in the back of the cafeteria with books piled in front of me that delved into the possibility of UFO's, earth spirits, ghosts, and other events that seemed to defy explanation and forced people to sleep with the lights on. Yes there was a point in my life where I slept with the lights on as well. I have had my share of experiences.The difference between me and most others is that I had a thirst to find out if it was real or just my imagination.

As I got older I found myself being drawn to people who had the same interests but sitting around talking about it did not quench the thirst or quell the desire that burned in me to learn/understand more. These friends of mine have all moved on, some are in bands not signed as of yet, well not that I am aware of, some completely destroyed their lives, and one even moved on to be a ghost hunter, good on you Steve, but me, I did what my parents wanted me to do.

My family was made up of mill workers, folks who never dared to do anything other then wake up every day, go to work, come home, go to bed, get up, repeat and eventually die miserable. I started to follow in those foot steps, matter of fact every member of my family at one point in time worked at the same paper mill in Holyoke Mass, "Parsons Paper". My father worked there for 36 years, my grandmother and grandfather worked there but my grandfather eventually moved on to work at a different paper Mill and died from a massive heart attack 3 weeks after he retired. My father who my only memories of him are as a miserable old man, spent the last three years of his life in retirement and in pain from hereditary conditions worsened by over working himself. I never saw my father growing up because he was always at work, and his retirement was an early one because after a while his conditions prevented him from working.

He spent the last three years of his life collecting stamps and kicking himself in the ass for having never lived out his dreams of becoming an architect. He did tell me in the end that he was sorry for the way our lives were, that he did his best (which I knew) and that he was sorry for leaving me with nothing more then his medical conditions, because I am slowly developing them.

My younger brother, who I am very close to and miss dearly, shares the same interests in the paranormal that I do. He worked at Parsons for a very long time and eventually saw his life slipping away through the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. After surviving an overdose which placed him in a coma for 6 weeks, he smartened up, realized he was given a second chance at life and I am happy to say is doing everything he can to take full advantage of it.

My step brother spent most of his life working at parsons as well and so did my mom. He defies any sort of explanation and lives with the belief that he has the right to be a miserable prick and so I pretty much leave that alone.

My mom is slipping away as well, but it's old age that is claiming her at this point.

I did what my parents expected of me, I married and had kids. I worked at parsons as a secretary, but I was eventually forced to give it up and stay home to care for my ailing child. Korben is doing better then the doctors could have ever imagined. It's not a full recovery, and I honestly don't believe it ever will be, but he is happy and as healthy as a child in his situation can be.

All around me I could see how every ones lives were slowly coming apart at the seams and I realized I could not be a part of that. So I left and moved to Oklahoma to do what... well chase storms of course :-), finally doing what I want instead of following the flock to an early grave.

This death ridge from hell has forced me to take a second look at things, and I have realized that chasing is only about 3 or 4 months out of the year, it leaves an enormous amount of time to explore other avenues. I am being given a second lease on life so to speak and I have decided that I am not going to spend 8 months of the year waiting around for the next storm. I can't do that, it's a stagnant way to live and I am not cut out to deal with it. So I am going to re explore an old fascination of mine and try my hand at ghost hunting. So you are going to see this blog go from being just babblings about stormchasing to babblings about ghost hunting as well. I have no idea how far this will go, but at least in the end I can say I tried :-) Now the only question is where the hell do I start?

4/9/09

2009-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

8/09/09 We chased Oklahoma, Kansas, Mo and although we were sitting in the middle of a cell that went tor-warned we ended up seeing nothing more then a pretty sunset as we crossed the border into Oklahoma. I saw the cell on radar and even based on my naked untrained eye I can tell you I have no clue why they warned that cell. By the time it went tor-warned we had pretty much given up on the day all together. But what we did see upon entering the state of Oklahoma was the brush/grass fires that were raging here that day. Now I have seen small brush fires while growing up in Mass and I saw a few on TV but that night was the first time I actually ever saw it "physically" right in front of my face and I must admit it was pretty damn scary.
As you can see by the photo the sky is not normally that color of orange, this is actually unfiltered, what you are seeing is all of the smoke in the air..I was happy to see that by the time we got to the fires themselves they had pretty much died down but it is the first time I ever saw entire wooded areas ablaze and hopefully it will be the last time I ever see it. From what I am told about Oklahoma's history of droughts though I have a feeling it will not be the last time.

Missed events.

2009-04-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I received an email this morning questioning if tornadoes can happen anywhere at any time, be it here in the plain states, on the west coast or the east coast. Now as most of you know I am originally from the east coast. Hurricanes, oh yeah we had those, nasty snow storms.... some of the worse, but tornadoes...... NEVER right?
Research it and you will read about the 1953 tornado that ripped through Worcester and leveled a good portion of it. Other areas that I know of that were hit years ago were Holyoke, where a tornado dropped down on my ex's mom's house and ripped part of her the roof off, and there was one that moved through Westfield when I was a kid, and a rotating wallcloud that passed over head where I was babysitting in Chicopee when I was 16. That was the event that turned my interest from meteorology to stormchasing and led me to where I am today.
You will also find that last year Western Mass folks saw numerous (for them) reports of tornadoes and some pretty nasty wind damage, but while these were happening I was here in Oklahoma chasing.
It's funny how many people actually believe that because the portion of Mass I originate from is in a "valley" it offered us automatic protection from tornadoes. But if you flip through the archives of severe storm events in Western Mass you will find that is just not true.
I received a lot of text messages last year from friends freaking out because suddenly they were seeing warnings and watches and some even swore they saw the actual funnel. Now as much as folks may want to poo on the idea that these people were seeing them, they are in the archives at NWS. I do not have friends in Mass that are skywarn personal or stormspotters by choice, I only have friends that I would drag to these classes with me and then watch them snore.
I did not know anyone in Mass who held the same fascination/obsession with severe weather that I did/do, but some of my friends that went to these classes with me actually paid attention. Now have they seen anything out on the east coast like folks see here in the plains... not so much, and do I think they would shit themselves if they saw the difference... absolutely. I am sure they would question my sanity a lot more now then they did back then. That's ok and is the reason I am here and not there. But their lack of passion for severe weather did not prevent them from experiencing it, at least now they have some knowledge that these events can and do happen just about every where, and in the end that's what counts.
I am a little pissed that I missed last years events. It's one thing to be out here chasing and catching tornadoes where they are so common, but to get them in a place where they supposedly don't exist would be really cool. I only fear that because they do not happen as often in Mass as they do here, the long drought between events would drive me over the edge.

Pretty storm

2009-03-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sadly though it was nothing more then that. A bit of lightening, a few rumbles of thunder, a down pour and it was over with. Not even a piece of hail. Oh well I guess I should be happy that it at least proves there is still moisture in the air. I just hope it's enough for this weekend. One thing it did give us was some really pretty striations as you can see here,

and some other pretty pictures...... The one above is Shane's favorite. The one below is mine. I like this one because in my opinion it's a little bit more artsy, either way I hope you like them.

Oh and once again, yes these were taken with my phone. I really can't wait to get a "real" camera.

Just crazy

2009-03-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning to find only what I can assume would be the Oklahoman version of a winter wonderland. I was impressed at the amount of snow that stuck to the ground and by how cold it was. I was impressed but, I HATED IT, don't think that has changed. Short of stepping outside to have a smoke I remained in the house while Shane did what ever running around he wanted to do. I went to bed last night, it was freezing out and there was still bits of snow showing.

I woke up this morning and the birds were singing the trees were in bloom the temps had gone up significantly and I just stood there in shock.....I am amazed at how fast things around here changed. I remember back in Mass we would have periods like this. It would snow one day and there would be a small amount on the ground and such but if we woke the next day and it was warmer there would still be a small amount of snow on the ground and it would be a wet, gray sort of warm day, not winter at midnight and Spring by midday. From what I am being told it's going to be a bright, sunny warm and boring week here in Oklahoma.... In other words nothing to chase. But if I have learned anything in the year that I have been living down here "if you don't like the weather wait a while (hell a couple of hours) it will change". So I am not losing hope just yet :-).

Tornado #19, and A Very Happy Anniversary

2009-03-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yup you got it, March 23rd 2009 I saw my 19th tornado 2-3 miles northeast of Arkansas City. Best of all March 22nd marked one year that Shane and I have been together. What better gift could any woman receive, then a tornado. On top of seeing my 19th tornado I also managed to get some pretty wild photos (off my cell phone) of a couple of rotating wall clouds, which were utterly breath taking, a scud bomb and yes my little tornado. Now mind you the photo of the tornado is a little bit hard to make out, I was sitting in the back seat trying to snap a photo of it with my cell phone through the front window, but if you look close enough you can see it.....

Just before getting that photo I managed to grab this rotating wall cloud. Probably my most favorite picture of them all.....

and then there was this one...

and of course my scud bomb.....
and last a lovely core that we passed by as we were leaving Oklahoma.

I know a lot of you heard about our wreck. Well let me tell you that there really was no sign on that road signaling that strange ass turn that came out of no where. I am a bit sore but nothing I won't get over, and well in all honesty it was allot of fun. All I can say is I am looking forward to finally having my Rebel and our next chase :-).

First chase of the year and another awesome party at Steve Miller OK's

2009-03-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Friday March 6th was yet another awesome Party at Steve Miller OK's place. Per usual we had a really great time, and I got to finally meet a few more really great people: Scott Bennett, Randy Cooper, Tony Laubach, Lanny Dean, Erin and Chad Berryhill, and a few other folks whose names escape me right now... sorry. Everyone ended up being really cool and I ended up having a really good time. The party was also live streamed for CTV which was (I believe) officially launched that night. Thanks again Steve and Andrea for another awesome night :-)

March 9th 2009 was officially my first chase of the year. I spent the entire winter looking so forward to that day and it ended up being a bust. It really sucked that it ended up that way, but it was a hell of a trip. We chased with Steve Miller OK and Hans Schroeder, who proved to be just as much fun to chase with as they are to hang out with at parties :-)

Our target started off being Ardmore, but Mother Nature had her own ideas for that day and we ended up west of Hennessey instead. We met up with Chad and Erin Berryhill as well as Scott Nordstrom in Hennessey, and then moved west on OK51. We finally stopped for a period at farm on 51, kept an eye on the sky and our fingers crossed. After about an hour of hanging around, watching radar, and messing with our live stream on CTV, we spotted a cell north of us on radar and decided it would be fun to play with...so we headed off to see what would happen. We decided there was no way we were going to catch it, so we changed our minds and decided to head west to catch a cell that was coming off the dryline. After a short drive and a very pretty sunset we found ourselves on north side of a cell in Watonga. That storm produced the largest hail of the day anywhere, along with some lightening. From there we decided to head back to Norman, and caught some real pretty lightning (including several close CGs) in Oklahoma City, which we watched while eating dinner at Sonic. At that point I pulled out my phone and decided to play solitaire during the rest of our ride home.

All in all it was a bust but, a bust is a chase and the chase is what it's all about. The company made it worth while so in my opinion it was all good :-) Thank you Steve and Hans for allowing us to tag along and I hope we get to chase with you guys again this season.

Spring is in the air

2009-02-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

Its February 26 and today in Oklahoma it was 72F, 72 damn degrees at the end of February. You will have to forgive me, it takes a little time to sink in. When I spoke with my boy tonight he was going on about how warm it was in Massachusetts today, and how happy he was he got to play outside. I believe he said it reached 40 today, anything below freezing means the children have to stay inside at recess. Then when I told him what the temperature was in Oklahoma, he suddenly wished he was here.
I took a walk today just so I could soak in the beauty of the day. The feeling that came over me was one that I am not use to experiencing in the last days of February. These feelings only existed at the end of April/start of May. I was taken back for a moment to the Farm and the wonderful Spring/Summer rites we use to have there. It made me miss Kristen, her beautiful garden and the fabulous full moon rites, I also missed the May Day celebrations I would hold at my place in Westspringfield.
As I walked along though I noticed something else. The smell and feel of the air, the amount of moisture that was in the air was so thick you could feel /taste it, that dirty wet smell that lingers in the air right before a storm whips up. It was at that moment that I realized once again why it was that I moved to Oklahoma. Spring is right around the corner and that means that chase season is as well. I love my friends back East, I loved the wonderful celebrations and rites, but nothing can compare to chasing.
I miss everyone back in Mass so much, but I missed chasing every year when I was living there, the only thing I had to chase was rain. I know how can you miss something you have never experienced right? Well don't ask, I'm not sure how, I just know that I did. All I can say is there is no place like home ;-). Chase season is fast approaching and I CAN'T WAIT.
On a side note... There has been so much happening in the chaser world these past few weeks. I have learned that some people are not always what they seem and I am happy I stuck by my initial gut feelings about them, even if I did not publicly admit it. I have kept it to myself and I will continue to do so because I have a little more class than that. I have also learned that there are a few people out there who are not worth the time of day and their forums are not worth the time and energy it takes to log in. I really hope that all the shit that is hitting the fan is nothing more then folks suffering the effects SDS and that a good chase / tornado will wipe the shit off the fan and prepare us all for one hell of a year.

Finally finished and a missed chase day.

2009-02-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well the long drawn out nightmare, that was my sons surgery, is finally done. I know I said I was going to blog through out the time I was here but I ended up spending more time at the hospital then I had expected. Two days after Korbens surgery the doctors decided to pull him off the respirator. Had he been a normal healthy child I would have been ok with it, but considering he has lung disease, not so much.
But I am talking about Boston children's here, and they for some reason seem to think they know it all. They may have degrees, but until they raise a child like Korben their degrees are meaningless. They may deal with children who have symptoms like Korbens on a daily basis, but they have not dealt with Korben in a long time. His diagnosis is unknown and they should have aired on the side of caution because of this, but they didn't.
Korbens father and I did a large part of Korbens care for 5 years and I did all of his care for 16 straight weeks I feel pretty damn safe saying I know what I am doing, his father as well, and the doctors should have taken what we had to say about Korbens care a little more seriously.
As I said before, Korbens surgery was on Thursday January 29th and these morons pulled him off the respirator on Saturday. Korben went from doing wonderfully to being just shy of critical within a couple of hours. I met with Korbens nurse who was very sweet and she explained to me what happened, but of course there was no doctor to talk to until Monday. Thankfully I was not there to see the tube pulled because had I been, I don't believe I would be sitting here right now. I called the hospital at about 9pm and was informed that Korbens lung had collapsed. I arrived at the hospital about an hour later and found him pale, weak, terrified and in tons of pain. Despite their admitting to me that they fucked up by pulling the tubes so soon, the amount of torture Korben had to endure so the doctors could correct their mistake, took away any chances they may have had with me. They claimed they wanted him to have a chance, the only chance Korben had when those tubes were pulled was a chance to fail.
Torture.... the process in which they used to correct their fuck up, consisted of.... using a machine called a "cough assist machine", it is a machine that forces air into your lungs and then immediately sucks it back out. They do this 4x's and then stick a catheter up his nose and proceed to suck out all the crap left behind as well as any air that may have been left behind by the cough assist machine. After that they preform chest PT (by pounding on his chest) and then go back to the cough assist. At one point Korben became so terrified that he jumped up and started to make a run for it, despite having me, two nurses and a doctor holding him down. He got to the edge of the bed and in the process managed to rip an IV out of his ankle only adding to the pain he was already in.
Watching everything he went through those few days made what these doctors did unforgivable, and when they told me that his trach was removed when he was two, they sent me over the edge. You see it was "placed" when he was two and removed when he was 8. The cinch er is that it was Boston Children's who preformed the surgery.

The doctor that questioned me about how old Korben was when the trach was removed had Korbens medical records right in front of his face and he made this mistake. This only tells me Korbens medical records are wrong or the doctor can't read. When I corrected the doctor his reply was oooops maybe I should go back and read that over again, that changes everything and maybe we did make a mistake pulling those tubes! No shit ya think? I just stared at him dumb founded at that point. That is the kind of mistake that should never be made.

So their little mistake set Korben back just long enough for me to get to my next bitch.

Tomorrow, Tuesday February 10th 2009, would have been our (mine and Shane's) official first chase of the year. But because of this screw up at the hospital I am sitting in Revere. I am happy to say that Shane will be chasing with Chad Lawson and I have my fingers crossed that they get something. I would love to be there and it would be one of the most kick ass valentine gifts a woman (like myself) could ever ask for, but I will be sitting in Revere waiting to hear from Shane about how they are doing instead.

I will get through this by reminding myself that I will be leaving here on Wednesday for Oklahoma (home) and this is the last time I will be making this trip for a long time. I am excited to get things on track and to see Shane again, I miss him so much. Best of luck to everyone that will be out chasing today, and be safe. I look forward to hearing about how y'all do :-).

An update on Korben, major rant

2009-01-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

After a few days at Boston children's, watching my son suffer unnecessarily, I have decided to take a couple of days off for a mental break... before I end up killing a couple of nurses. The traction is one thing and I have found that although I am ok around him for the most part, when they want to lift him out of his bed and place him in his wheel chair or out of the chair and put him in bed, I have to leave the room. The top of the halo has a piece that sticks up at the top that I can only describe as looking like a handle on a bucket. When ever they need to lift Korben, they grab him by this handle, the way the screws are going into the top of his head, it appears as though one hard enough pull and you will rip the damn screws out, or rip his head off his neck. Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl never mind having to actually watch it. So when ever the nurses come in to lift him out of bed or out of the chair, I leave the room.
For the most part the nurses I have met have been ok. There was a screw up in the orders though that lead from me being perfectly calm to wanting to seriously hurt someone. As some of you know, Korben has a g-tube. The first time Korben's lungs collapsed (which is when his 3 year hospitalization began) it was due to an aspiration where the fluid went directly into his lungs. To make sure korben did not have any more issues with fluid in his lungs the doctors preformed a fundolplication. Korben's stomach is wrapped around his esophagus, this was done when he was still a baby. It was because of the aspiration that the doctors finally placed the G-tube.
Getting back to the point, when the g-tube was placed Korben was left with an opening in his stomach of course, the hole did not heal right and he has a rather large stoma around the area. Korben's g-tube was changed on Friday afternoon and he was fed. A little later that afternoon (after his feed) we could hear what sounded like bubbles in Korbens tummy. Upon closer inspection we came to realize that the front of his shirt was soaked. Once we lifted his shirt we realized that the g-tube was leaking, Korben's stomach contents were coming out of the hole and spilling all over the outer part of his stoma causing an irritation to the skin around his g-tube. It was a blood red color and very painful.
We searched Korbens room for the cream that is normally used to protect the skin around his stoma and realized there was none to be found. Korben's grandma happened to be there with me and placed a call to Korben's father. As we went over Korbens pre-op instructions we realized that the hospital was not following the instructions they have on record. Not only was his cream for his belly not there but Korben is on prilosec as well, to cut back on the amount of acid in his stomach because he has ulcers that developed around his g-tube site, that were also conveniently forgotten about. We called in Korbens nurse and tried to explain to her that he needed these meds. She told us that she placed a call to the ER doctor telling him that Korben needed these meds asap. She said she called the ER doctor because there was no one else available. We waited 2 hours, grabbing this nurse every 15-30 mins to ask her where these damn meds were. She just kept telling us that she was waiting to hear back from the ER doctor who did not see what Korben was going through to be an emergency and he was just going to have to wait.
After about 3 hours of waiting for this damn ER doctor, Korbens grandmother left asking me to be sure and call her when this doctor finally shows up. I waited one more hour and put a call to Korbens father and started ranting because by that point I had seriously lost my patients with his nurse and the doctors. He then asked why no one spoke to the resident doctor. After thinking about it for a few I remembered Korbens nurse saying there was no one on the floor which is why she called the ER doctor. As I said though my patients had run out and I left the room and searched out Korbens nurse. Soon as I saw her I demanded to know why she never mentioned any of this to the resident doctor on the floor. The look she gave me proved that she had no fucking clue what I was talking about. AT that point I went to the nurses station and demanded that I see the resident doctor NOW! About 5 minutes later the doctor was in Korbens room examining him and apologizing profusely to me saying he had been on the floor for 2 hours and no one said a word to him about Korben. The only thing I can think of is that at the time this idiot nurse went looking for a doctor the resident doctor was not on the floor yet and that is why she told me no one was there.
Things were finally taken care of, I found a tube of the gel we use on Korbens g-tube stoma and we cleaned up the site and put the gel on him finally cooling the area down and making it more bearable. His prilosec was finally ordered and given to him and he finally got fed. His feed (at that point) was a bout 6 hours late.
The length of time without food along with the pain medication Korben was being given and then his feed caused him to have extreme amounts of gas pain, and started the spilling stomach fluid out of the hole and back on the stoma again, adding insult to injury at that point. Korben was in extreme amounts of pain in his stomach, around his g-tube, down his spine and in his head. Thankfully it was the new shift, the idiot had gone home and a different nurse came on. When I saw the pain Korben was in I immediately left the room, grabbed her and told her she was going into the room and giving my son something for the gas and the pain he was in. I was not going to sit back and watch my kid suffer for another four hours. Had she not done something right then and there she was going to wish she had. Within about 5 minuets she was in the room with medication for the gas and pain meds. Korben was given his dose and finally able to get a little sleep. By that point however it was 4 in the morning.
The doctor covering for Korbens surgeon stopped by that morning to see how Korben was doing. I did not hesitate for a moment, this doctor was now dealing with a mom who was up all night watching her son suffer at the hands of a moronic nurse and the utter stupidity showed by these people when such simple instructions were missed. When reality he could have been helped and the suffering would have been avoided if they had just followed the instructions left by his father and re given by me. Before the doctor could open his mouth I told him all about the night before, told him Korben better have orders for his meds by the time I get out of the shower and that although I was going back to Revere for a couple of days, I would be calling daily and that if things are not taken care of by the time I return on Monday he was going to find out why every other doctor who has worked with my son in the past only says "Oh shit not her" when they see me coming. I was told I need to be nicer when dealing with these people and I tried really hard, but I am not going to sit back and watch my son suffer like that when there is no need for it, and mommy will be heading back to Boston in about 10 hours. I cannot Wait to hear "Oh shit not her" when I get there lol.
So that sums things up so far, I will be at the hospital for at least a week. I will update again when I am back in Revere, by then Korben will have been through his second surgery and I am sure I will have tons of stuff to bore you to death with :-).

Back in Mass and an Update on Korben

2009-01-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

Well as most folks are aware of I am freezing my ass off in Massachusetts right now. Shane put my ass on the train Tuesday morning and after an uneventful 3 day train ride I arrived in Springfield Mass late Thursday night. I spent a couple of nights at my mom's house in Chicopee and on Saturday I grabbed my youngest, boarded a bus for Boston and have been here since. I had really hoped I would be able to relax during my visit with my youngest and take him to Salem for an afternon, but while I was in Chicago waiting for my train I received the text message I'd hoped I would not get. There had been allot of talk about Korben possibly needing traction prior to his surgery but we were hoping it would not happen. On Wednesday night however I got a message from Korben's father letting me know that Korben was going to end up needing the traction after all. Korben's spine is at a 90 degree angle and the doctors are hoping that a few days in traction, with a little weight added daily, will give him just enough of a stretch to bring him from 90 degrees down to about 50. That kind of messd up my plans so instead I tried to spend as much quality time alone with my youngest as I could before he returned back to Western Mass. Tavis (my youngest) also had the chance to play with Korben, before Korben was placed into traction.

After spending a little time visiting with Korben, we (Tavis, Tracey and I) all left children's hospital, hopped on the subway, and headed to South station to pick up my brother Tim. This was Tavis's first time ever riding the subway and I believe it was mine as well. It is possible I have been on one in the past, but it would have been when I was even younger then Tavis. I was impressed at how well behaved Tavis was the entire time. Not only was he behaved but he also took to memory the entire rout we took from Tracey's house to Boston Children's and then from Boston Children's to South Station. That child could guide you through half of Boston and not even get lost lol.

We picked my brother up from South Station and started to head back to the subway terminal .While we were walking I decided to check the time. When I reached down to grab the cell phone, I was shocked to find that the cell phone gone. I started to panic and searched every pocket and the bag I had with me looking for it but it was no where to be found. I took off through South station retracing my foot steps in case I dropped it. I went from the subway terminal to the Amtrak terminal to the Peter pan terminal and I did not find a damn thing. My brother said lets try calling the phone, maybe if we hear it ring it will be easier to locate. He called the number and was surprised when the phone was actually answered.

The woman who answered it had the nerve to say "hello? who are you? and why are you calling my cell phone?" My brother in a state of disbelief said excuse me that is my phone where the hell are you? No sooner did he get those words out of his mouth and the woman who answered lost her ability to speak English. At that moment we realized what her little game was and the reason she took the phone. She was able to play that game for about 15 minuets, because that is about how long it took us to have the phone shut off. As good as it felt to have the phone shut off on her it still meant we were now without a phone and had just wasted about 4o minuets looking for a stolen phone instead of working our way back to Boston Children's.

We eventually made it back to the hospital, when we arrived we found that Korben had just been taken into surgery (4 hours later then scheduled), I guess that's what they call doctors hours. I spent the time in the waiting room trying to prepair for what I was about to see. About 40 minuets after we got there the doctor called to let us know that Korben was in recovery. When I walked into the recovery room and saw Korben lying there, I realized I was not prepared at all for what I saw. It's not that it was disgusting or that he was disfigured or anything, but seeing that halo around his head and the look of pain he wore on his face utterly broke my heart. I ended up having to leave the room for a few minuets to compose myself, but I am happy to say I made it through the rest of the night without losing my head.

I went back today for another visit and although I did not break down into tears like I did yesterday it still broke my heart to see him that way and watching what the nurse needed to do in order to move him from the bed to the wheel chair made me cringe. In time I am sure I will get use to it, but for the moment it does bother me. At my visit today I was pulled aside by Korbens nurse and questioned about why no one was staying at the hospital with him. I explained that Korbens dad had to head back home so he can work and I had my youngest with me. The hospital does not want siblings hanging around the hospital. I let the nurse know that I had a few things to take care of in Revere but as soon as everything here was set I would be back at Children's and that I would gladly spend the night with Korben. Sleeping at the hospital is something I did years ago when he was first hospitalized and now that Tavis is in Western Mass there is nothing keeping me in Revere. So as of tomorrow night I will be staying at the hospital with Korben. I am not exactly sure how long I will be there, but I know it will be for at least one night. This weekend his grandparents are supposed to come and spend some time with him and his father is supposed to be coming back as well.

I figure Thursday night and then a few days over the next week and a half. The hospital does not like it when parents spend to many nights in a row sleeping at the hospital with their children, with all the alarms going off all night it makes it tough to get any descent amount of sleep and after awhile it starts to get to ya. Trust me I have done it in the past, and was eventually forced out of the hospital and sent home to get some sleep. Allot of people wonder how it is I can get by on such a small amount of sleep, try sleeping in the hospital for weeks on end with a sick child.... then trying doing it for three years. You learn to get by on little to no sleep trust me.

Just for Hahas

2009-01-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

AHAHAHAHAHA. I would explain more but I can't stop laughing....... Check this out!

Another trip to Boston

2009-01-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving for Boston (yet again) in about a week and a half. I don't mind traveling if it's a vacation or to chase, but these trips to Mass are wearing me out.. My oldest child Korben, is going in for another surgery on the 29th and I am not looking forward to it. I would say I am sure he is not either but, he is autistic and I am not really sure just how aware of the situation he is right now. I really think he is better off not realizing it, because I am sure if he did, this surgery would not be happening. He has suffered so much in his life it's not fair that he should have to suffer any more. This time he is having metal rods placed in his back to see if his back can be straightened. He has a scoliosis so bad that the doctors are afraid if we do not have the rods inserted and he continues to grow the way he is, he will eventually end up with a crushed heart and lungs.

Being a typical mom, I am worried sick about this. He has suffered so much over the years, and his hospitalizations have left him scarred both physically and mentally. At the time that I actually had nurses helping me out I had to be sure that when they came to work they were not dressed in uniforms, they needed to be dressed in street clothes, or they were dismissed. Yeah I was a bitch when it came to dealing with nurses but my child had suffered enough at the hands of the medical profession.

One time the doctors placed a pump in Korbens back, it was supposed to constantly dose him with morphine for pain. To test his pain/reflex levels, they would stick needles in his muscles and then send electric shocks into them. Well it did not work and I heard screams come out of my child that no parent should ever hear. I allowed this to happen twice, when the doctor returned for the third time I made it very clear that if he stuck one more needle in my child, I was going to show him how it feels. He got pissed off and walked away bitching about how I put an end to the test. I did not put an end to any damn test I put an end to their bi hourly torture sessions.

Korben is going to be 11 this year and to date those screams are the last thing I heard come from his mouth, besides a grunt now and again. Even when he cries they are silent tears. You cannot even imagine how heart breaking that is. I don't wish that on any child or parent ever.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that the one woman who I despised most from my son's hospitalizations happens to be heading the surgical team that will be working on Korben. I hate her because when Korben was in the hospital she did everything in her power to make it so that Korben would never come home. Korben was her meal ticket, you see he is undiagnosed, therefore they could run constant tests on him and do what ever they wanted in the name of science. And his little body is covered in scars to prove it. They forced our hand so much that I lived for a year with my husband, my youngest son, and my ex husband, all under one roof just so Korben could come home. I guess they figured we would never go for it and they would have Korben forever... well surprise, it was the worse year of my life but my son was home and the hospital lost their meal ticket, (about a million a year) I was/am ok with that. I am really not looking forward to seeing her that's for sure.

At this point he will be going in on the 29th as I said and they are talking about retraching him. I am not happy about it becasue he has been doing so well with out the trach for close to two years now. They are also talking about possibly having him spend two weeks in traction prior to the surgery, that's really going to mess with him. He is autistic and has the mentality of a two year old. He has been in the terrible two's stage for about 4 years, he is going to be utterly miserable. Once they have done the surgery he will then have to spend another week in the hospital for recovery. I also worry that considering who is heading the surgical team, he may spend more time then that in the hospital. I am sure she has tons more tests she would like to run on him before allowing him to return home. At the moment I am looking at spending about 3 weeks in Boston. I am praying it is no more then that but I fear it will be longer. So I guess you can get an idea of what my posts are going to be about over the next few weeks....

December 26th

2008-12-26T23:25:00.000-08:00

December 26th was my birthday and what a day it was.. Normally I don't celebrate it but this year Shane made sure I did not have a choice., and someone posted it in Spotterchat.... Thanks lol. Shane allowed me to sleep in that morning, and made sure the dishes were done before I woke, which was super sweet of him. Once I was awake and showered he took me to Starbucks for a frappachino.... Yes it was warm enough for a frappachino, how cool is that?.... There was a record high of 76F set in OKC, and the low was 60F which is the record high/low for OKC. This meant that for the first time ever in my life I was able to wear shorts on my birthday. Granted I was not roasting my ass on the beach, but at least I did not spend it drudging through 2 feet of snow. Also my son and I have been keeping track of how many months out of the year the crickets sing in Oklahoma. As you can imagine in Mass it's only about 5-6 months . On the way home that night I heard the crickets singing, which means I have heard them every single month I have been here.

We spent the afternoon at Bill and Dee's, relaxing and having a few beers with Steve Miller (OK), and afterwards Steve and his wife Andrea treated Shane and I to "bait" at a beautiful little sushi bar/restaurant called In the Raw, located on university Rd, just north of Boyd, in the heart of Norman. This was not my first time eating bait but I must admit it was definitely the best I have ever had. They have four restaurants in the Oklahoma city metro area and their top chef travels between them regularly. He happened to be in Norman on the 26th which was a treat. He created a dish special for Shane, since it was his first time eating Sushi and it was to die for. I personally had the Cali roll and the New York roll, both were absolutely divine, but there was so much food I was not able to finish it all. If your in the area I would definitely recommend you stop by In the Raw, I promise you will not be disappointed. Thank you Steve and Andrea for everything.... it was with out a doubt the worse birthday of my life ;-).

Mother nature gave me yet another birthday gift, in the form of a line of storms that moved in from the southwest at about 4 am. Granted she missed by birthday by about four hours but it was worth it. The build up to it was much bigger then the actual storm but it was allot fun. Once they moved in there was a bit of a lightening show, a decent amount of thunder, wind and even pea size hail. Yeah I collected a few pieces of hail, well I tried to anyway but they kept melting in my hand. I managed to get a bit into the freezer but at this point it pretty much blends in with everything else in there so it's hard to tell where it is. Point being, it topped off what I would have to say is one of the best birthdays I have ever had.

ICK

2008-12-24T00:59:00.000-08:00

Well I thought today was going to be warm, but man was I ever wrong. Ok it was warmer then it was over the weekend but it was a nasty wet day today. Not so much in the form of rain but a mist that hung around, sunk deep into your bones and just made the day down right miserable. On top of that Shane has come down with what he thought was the flu but to be honest I think it is more of a chest cold. Just as nasty as the flu so either way it sucks and it is breaking my heart to see him so uncomfortable. I headed out twice today to get cough medicine and tea for him, hence the reason I know just how icky it was.

But as I am noticing to be more "normal" for Oklahoma then I thought last night, the southerly winds have whipped up warmer air. Out side right now at 3 am it is in the 40's. At 3 PM yesterday it was somewhere around 30. I am starting to think that Oklahoma is backwards or something. The clouds are starting to break up and the winds have died down. I am actually looking forward to Christmas day right now just because it is going to be even warmer. Hopefully things will not change over the next few days because short of a slight chance of rain in the forecast for Thursday/Friday and a slightly chilly weekend things are going to warm up again and right now these bones could really use the warm air.

Happy Holidays everyone and I hope Santa brings you exactly what you were asking for ;-).

Enough already!

2008-12-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

After a beautiful day/night in Dallas Texas... and one hell of a kick ass concert, we returned home to below freezing temperatures (on Saturday) that still have not let up. I seriously thought it would be warmer down here then it is up north but, that's just not the case. Granted there are warm days thrown into the mix now and again, but they just make me wonder how people manage to stay healthy with these extreme temperature swings.

When I lived back in Mass we use to say "don't like the weather wait awhile it will change", or "Mass the only place you can have four seasons in one day". To all of my dear friends in Western Mass all I have to say is you have NO IDEA. In Oklahoma you can leave the house for a 12 minuet walk and experience three seasons... Another thing that I have noticed about Oklahoma that I don't recall happening in Mass, is that the temperatures actually rise at night. Not all the time but it does happen.

I am told it's because the winds blow up out of the south. Ok look I have experienced southerly winds, even at night, but I do not recall the temperatures rising... Yeah I know the folks who live down this way are probably laughing but I honestly have no recollection what so ever of temperatures rising 10 degrees after sunset.

Looks as though things are going to finally warm up a little tomorrow and to be honest I am really looking forward to it. I hate being cooped up in the house but when its gets as cold as it has been I really don't have much choice. Also looks as though its going to be a "green" Christmas.. not that I actually celebrate it, but if I did, the only thing that would make me happier then a green Christmas would be one spent roasting my ass on the beach.

Im the MOM

2008-12-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

If you're a mom or just because you have one, I think you will appreciate This.... I cannot even being to tell you how many times I have said all of this.... although she does forget things like........ GET DOWN!!!!! NOT IN THE HOUSE!!! and of course.... I SAID .....NO!!!!!

I love my boys :-).

Cold Urticaria

2008-12-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Well I'll be damned.... I noticed a few unusual hits to my blog today and when I checked the referrals on them I noticed folks stopped here because I blogged about my allergic reaction to the cold. So I figure since people are being lead here by that post I might as well update and tell ya what I learned about it today .... It's called Cold Urticaria,

What is Cold Urticaria?

Cold urticaria is a form of physical urticaria that is characterized by the development of hives and swelling with cold exposure. A variety of cold triggers can cause symptoms in people with this syndrome, including cold weather, cold food and drinks, as well as swimming in cold water.
While most people with cold urticaria experience only mild symptoms of itching and hives with cold exposure, some people have experienced life-threatening anaphylaxis with aquatic activities involving cold water. Cold urticaria may also be caused by a number of underlying medical problems, including a variety of infections, autoimmune diseases, some cancers, and side effects from certain medications. There are also forms of cold urticaria that run in families.

Familial

Familial (essential) cold urticaria is a rare form of cold intolerance that is inherited. It is not a true urticaria. A generalised reaction occurs approximately 30 minutes following exposure to the cold and consists of burning papular skin lesions, fever, chills, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and can last up to 48 hours.

Well as you can see I am not insane, ok maybe a little, but at least I know that my family is not as alone in this as I first thought. Yes my sons doctor did tell us it was an allergic reaction to the cold water but he never went into any real detail about it. He pretty much just told us to keep an eye on our son and treat the symptoms as they appear. As for me I never bothered to discuss it with my doctor, I have so many weird allergies that I just accepted it was something I would have to learn to live with and moved on.

For any one that happens upon this blog looking to learn about this condition, click on "What is Cold Urticaria" or "familial" for more information. Good luck to ya and stay warm .

Too damn cold.

2008-12-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

Ok so allot of people read my bitching in spotterchat about the cold. I always whine and complain about how much I hate winter and for the most part I don't even want to talk about it. When folks ask me why I tell them because I grew up in Massachusetts and have dealt with my share of cold/snow/sleet and freezing rain. Winter was never a fun time growing up because there was always storms and always plenty of snow to shovel.

Unlike other kids we did not go sledding and ice skating or any of that cool stuff, I had a grandmother who was obsessive about not having snow in the drive way and we were sent outside every hour to shovel. It was not just because the snow, I swear, never stopped falling but because when the plows would go by they would pile snow up at the end of the drive way and we had to clean it up.

Once the plows would go by the snow would go through this weird sort of melting and refreezing process that made it 10x's heavier then it was to begin with, no matter how light and fluffy it was when it first fell. By the time you were done shoveling it all the only thing you wanted was a cup of hot coca and bed. Never mind ice skating, skiing or sledding.

But it does not snow all the time as I am sure you know. I do have another reason for hating the cold as much as I do. Certain members of my family..... myself, my brother and my youngest child all have a strange sort of "allergic reaction" to the cold. I have not met anyone else who has this allergy, although I am sure we are not the only ones. Exposure to cold temperatures for long periods of time will actually cause us to break out in hives. Not frost bite like normal people but an ugly, red, itchy, rash.... It's not just bitter cold winter weather that causes it either.

Walking into an air conditioned room can cause me to break out in these hives, as well as cold water and at times even a fan blowing cool air will cause a reaction. That goes for my brother and my son as well. One summer (when we first noticed that my son had the same condition), he went from being a child who saw the doctor once a year for his school check up to seeing him every other day. Every time my son would go in his pool he would come out covered in this rash and we would end up at the doctors office. Once we exhausted every possible cause, we realized it was the cold water causing the rashes he was getting and now we just treat with Benadryl when he gets really uncomfortable.

I am sure most people think I am a little strange when they see me walking around in the middle of the summer wearing a long sleeve shirt and sometimes pants depending on how hot it is outside, or when I go to the beach (something I love to do) but refuse to go near the water. At times if I am standing in front of or below a fan that is blowing cool air at me, the sensation I get can only be described as having razor blades thrown at me. It feel as though the breeze its self is cutting my skin open.

I am living in Oklahoma now and I thought the temperatures down here would be warmer then Mass, man was I ever wrong. Although I will admit it's not as bad as it was in Mass. Down here you don't have the foot of snow to drudge through every day, making your clothes wet and only adding insult to injury. But it's still enough to be a problem for someone like me.

I am slowly learning deal with it, yeah most times by bitching, staying in the house whenever possible, avoiding swimming or going near cold water and in the summer I do not turn on the A/C unless it's so hot I cannot breath. Of course Shane runs the A/C in the summer and I just rug up against it. I must admit though he tries really hard to keep things as comfortable as possible for me. I am not sure if anyone has heard him say it but he does call me a "reptile" for a reason lol.

So, you see even though I spent my life in Mass, it's not just simply a distaste for icky cold winter weather that I have, It's not that I don't see the beauty in freshly fallen snow or feel the excitement of a kick ass Nor Easter blowing through.. It's that it's kind of hard to enjoy all of that when you have a physical condition that makes you miserable when ever the temps start to drop and winter starts to rear its ugly head. Whats even worse is that this year, as most know I finally had my chance to chase. You can't see it in the master DVD Shane is selling because thankfully I am not "seen", but if you were to watch this years tapes unedited, you will see me walking around wearing a light jacket. Even standing in the inflow winds hurt like a bitch, But that is something I am willing to deal with :-).

Just a rant

2008-12-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

This is for the ladies, but guys should pay attention because it's about you. I am not putting men down or anything like that but lets face it guys, there are a fare bit of you out there who do this shit.

Today I had to go out and run a few errands.... grab a few things for the house and so on. Of course I am walking because we don't have a car at the moment and because I would really rather be walking anyway, I am just weird like that. I had my MP3 player turned on, as loud as it will go and I was minding my own damn business. I start to hear this booming sound, you know when someone is playing "B-Box" music in their car as they drive by... That stuff drives me nuts, I don't have an issue with loud music, but that stuff just gets on my nerves.

I notice that this music is behind me for a long time and I am thinking damn that's a hell of a stereo system... I really had no idea how far back this car was, the fact that I was hearing the music but not seeing the car pass, made me think the car was further back then it was. I looked over my shoulder and this car is down to a crawling speed right behind me. I see this dude in the car sitting in his little "Gangsta Pose" in the car bouncing his head up and down to the music and (you got it) watching me walk down the street. So I turned away and started walking faster. After a few seconds I finally see this car crawl past me. Then once this dude is about 10 feet in front of me he stops the damn car.... HELLO!!!! Do you need directions or something??? Of course not, he just sat there staring back at me, listening to his music, looking like a retarded, bobble headed, Gangsta doll hanging out the window...... I finally pass him, ignoring him the best I can and he slowly starts to pull the car up a little further... stopped... waited.... crawled forward a little more.... stopped... waited... crawled forward and finally turned the corner. Of course it would have to be the same damn street I am about to turn down. He gets around the corner and you got it stops again. I decided to walk a different way and he eventually drove off.... So this is for him and guys who act like him......

First off MORON'S you're not the only car on the street, every time you stop to watch a woman walk by, you slow everyone else down... Therefore you're being a complete TOOL. Other people actually have lives, and places to go. Show a little respect and keep moving. Second when a woman turns, looks at you, turns away and starts walking faster, maybe, just maybe, it's a nice way of saying "FUCK OFF", ever think of that!!!! Get a clue jack ass. Third it's seriously creepy to have someone crawling down the street like that, stopping every few feet, and staring at you. You come across as a perceived threat.... What woman in her right mind would find that attractive? Trust me....IT'S A TOTAL TURN OFF!!!!!!

What exactly do you think will happen if you wait there long enough? A woman would run out in the middle of the street and proclaim her undying affection to you? Do you think your GAY ASS B-BOX music is impressive, or your GANGSTA RAPPER look is the slightest bit attractive, trust me your a dime a dozen these days. Get over yourself, not everyone thinks you're "da shit", maybe a "piece of shit" but certainly not "da shit".

Just like every other woman out there, I have had guys who will drive by... beep, yell out "hey sweetheart" or just nod/wave, with big ass grins on their faces.... and then keep driving. For the most part they pay attention to everything else going on around them. They can check me out all they want, I don't care... It can even be a bit flattering at times. What's most important is they at least show a little class by still paying attention to the road. But there are a few who take it a step to far, and as I said any woman in her right mind would be extremely put off by the behavior of my little friend today. I have experienced that shit allot in Massachusetts, but I never expected it here in Oklahoma. I guess people really are the same no matter where you go.

I am pretty sure most women will agree with me and if you don't, and you find that attractive.... have at em sweet heart.... PLEASE... so they will leave the rest of us alone. As for the rest of the ladies reading this..... Tell me I am wrong.

Whats up?

2008-11-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

For anyone that might be wondering..... here's whats going on. The computer we happen to be using at the moment has decided to have a complete aneurysm. I assumed at first that maybe it was a virus... Nope, the computer is clean. Ok so I took it apart... Lets just say dust bunnies multiply as fast as actual bunnies. So we bought a can of air...."A can of air"... Every time I think about that it makes me laugh..."Canned air".. Space balls, 1987.. lmao.

But hey it's what you use to clean computers, right..... And get this... It's 5 bucks for a can of air... good god they will suck you dry anyway they can. Anyway, I grabbed this can of air and blew away every little dust bunny I could find. Did that help any, sadly no, it did not. So Shane grabbed a screw driver and pulled the fan off hoping he could fix it, but he did not get anywhere. We decided to let the damn thing cool off and we were lucky to have enough time to check email before it overheated and shut down. Yes I am aware the computer is only doing what it's supposed to. So after a few hours of fighting with it we gave up and went to bed.

Well this morning I jumped on line to check my email and once again the damn thing got hot enough to fry an egg. Finally I decided bugger it, I pulled the damn fan off myself and started to tinker with it. While giving it time to cool off I started calling repair shops, trying to get a price on a new fan and any necessary repairs we might need to have done.

I called a few places and learned that you can buy a decent "refurbished" computer for less then having someone come out and look at yours. That is just WRONG. There was one place I called, It was Lightspeed computer repair. The man who answered the phone was very nice, he told me what he thought might be the problem and then how much it could cost to have it repaired. He said that it's possible it's the processor and if it is we are looking at $250-300 bucks.... OUCH that really hurts. Have you ever priced a refurbished computer, try it sometime. It really is cheaper to buy a refurbished one then it is to have someone come in and look at the broken one. Even if you pay 300 to have yours repaired you are not guaranteed it will last any longer then a refurbished one anyway.

It's really sad when it can potentially cost as much to fix a computer as replacing it. I can't understand how computer repair shoppes manage to stay in business with the prices they charge. I would assume that since they are in the computer business they would be aware that folks can buy a working computer for less then the price of having one "looked at", hell less then the price of having someone knock on your door, never mind actually look at it. One place told me $90 to show up at your house and then $60 dollars an hour to be there. In my opinion that's not worth it. These people come out, they are at your house for 2 hours and you have just spent more then it costs to buy one.

That tells me they are banking on the idea that people are just plain stupid and these repairmen are making a fortune. Every desk top computer I have ever had has been refurbished, I had one that lasted me 5 years without a single problem, and now my kid owns it. I would go out and buy one refurbished before I would ever waste my money on a repairman... sorry, I might be blond but I am not stupid!

But the computer has been running longer right now then it has been in the past two days and it's not hot. All I did was mess with the fan a little, and ad an external one, which tells me its a problem with the fan and not the processor. So hopefully we will be able to save this one. From here, I guess we wait, hope for the best and see what happens. :-).

Also, I want to send a shout out and a big thank you to everyone spotterchat.org, they had tons of suggestion and tips to help out with the problems we were having with the computer, they even put up with my bitching through the process. You guys really are the bomb and anyone interested in severe weather, chasing etc should most certainly check this place/chat out :-). Ben Sparks.. thank you for the Speedfan link, it's been awesome. I have been able to keep track of the computers temperature and now I don't have to keep shutting the computer down just because I think it's overheating.

Chasing with Kids.

2008-11-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was sent a link that showed a news clipping of a "stormchaser" who rides motorcycles into tornadoes and shoots rockets into said storms, studying something about the magnetic fields in these storms.

I was immediately put off by the fact that he was riding a motorcycle into a tornado (in the name of science) but hey that's his choice, if it's what he wants to do, so be it. The person that shared this video with me, Laura Duchesne, blogged about her feelings on his way of chasing and his lack of judgement concerning his kids. As she states "its a free world"... everyone has a right to their opinion, of course, and she was giving hers. Well Mr. Heene found her blog and by his comments, it's pretty obvious he was not happy about what she had to say. But it is a free world and he has a right to not be happy about it and to say so.

But instead of being an adult about it and explaining his reason for doing things the way he does, he chose to insult her and then throw out a bunch of credentials that I am assuming made him what... a better person, a better chaser, oh wait I know a scientist right, that's a laugh. Well, Mr. Heene, you admit that you are not a scientist but a "science detective", wow paint me impressed. The only thing you proved is that you're an ass...As a matter of fact your immature reaction to that post made you look more like my 8 year old when he is told he is NOT getting pokemon cards.

But there is more to my bitch about this then his immaturity. What I saw in this video that made my hair stand on end was not that his wife was following closely behind him as he was riding into this tornado, but that their kids were in the back seat of the truck. Ok wait am I the only one who sees the problem here? For a man who claims to be so intelligent, he definitely shows that he seriously lacks good judgement when it comes to his children, and then there is this....

Taken directly from the website advertising the show "wife swap"

"The Heene family from Colorado live life on the edge. Wife Mayumi (43) and storm scientist Richard (45) take their three kids, Bradford (8), Ryo (7) and Falcon (5), out of school to go on storm chasing missions to prove Richard's theories about magnetic fields and gravity. If conditions are right, Mayumi wakes her family by shouting "Storm Approaching, Storm Approaching!" into a bullhorn. The family sleep in their clothes so they can leap out of bed and into the storm-mobile".

Where in the name of god is child protective services when they are most needed? I chase, I moved to Oklahoma just so I could chase and I have kids. You know where my kids are?? They are in school where they belong. I have seen other chasers who take their kids chasing with them and admittedly I have questioned their judgement, but the Heenes take it to extremes and they are advertising it. I am pretty sure other chasers that have taken their kids with them don't drive into the core, don't take their kids out of school to chase, don't send their kids to bed fully clothed and don't wake them with a friggen bullhorn while screaming "storm approaching".

In all honesty Mr Heene you need to spend less time puffing out your chest, throwing out credentials, and insulting people for having an opinion and more time working on being a parent... and you might want to try growing up while you're at it. Why don't you put that childish excuse for a blog to some use and tell people what you're doing and why, instead of using it to show the world just how "small" your appendage is.

Oh and for the record don't call yourself a "stormchaser" and then insult other stormchasers (for basically being stormchasers) because they happen to disagree with the way you do things. If you are going to allow your face/life to be plastered all over national TV, you need to expect that not everyone is going to agree with you, and realize that some will be ballsy enough to call you out. Good on you Laura for being the first to do so.

30 years since the Jonestown massacre

2008-11-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

Yeah folks that was 30 years ago today, and it was the first thing I saw this morning when I turned on the computer. Considering I was a child when it actually happened and that I don't remember anything other then "don't drink the Kool-aide" I decided to look into it. During my research I came across allot of interesting little "cults" that exist all over the planet and it got me to thinking about.... well.... me.

Tornado Witch, I have that name because I chase storms, and because I am a witch. Most folks know that about me and seem to be pretty cool with it and I appreciate that. But I still run into folks daily who, as soon as they see the symbol around my neck or the tattoos I have, find it hard to look me in the eye. My path may not be the most accepted but at least I don't go around shoving pamphlets in peoples faces, while screaming, the end is near, the mother ship is waiting on the horizon, drink the damn kool-aide or I'll shoot. I am amazed that people get so freaked by my beliefs and yet right under their noses people are killing themselves and each other in the name of their god. Something I nor any other witch that I have met along the way would ever do.

I am not a wiccan, or pagan for that matter, I get asked that allot. Like Wicca is the only "heathen path" on this planet. First off whats a pagan....Middle English, from Late Latin pāgānus, from Latin, country-dweller, civilian, from pāgus, country, rural district... Look at that it does not even have anything to do with any sort of religious belief... The word having a religious meaning to it is a more recent. And wicca, hell that is not even a real religion, well ok it wasn't until Gerald Gardner came along. My beliefs pre date the creation of the Wiccan path, and has very little to do with satanism. Kind of impossible to have a belief in a god that did not actually exist until the Christians created it. I call Satan a god not out of disrespect for any Christian or any other religion out there that believes in its existence, but because it has been given so much power that it may as well be called one.

Allow me to tell you a little about my beliefs... "Heathen....an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim". There now that is a more fitting description of who I am.

First off I worship the sun... allow me to repeat that ... "THE SUN"..., that large glowing orb in the sky that greets us every morning, the giver of life on this planet because we all know with out it life would cease to exist.

Not to be confused with "the son", some dude sent down here to die for our sins. I am not doubting that at some point in time there was a man that lived on this planet who tried his best to do good things, to teach people to live a more loving and peaceful existence, and well by the very definition, who was a bit of a heathen himself. Don't forget Christianity was not a main stream religion at the time, "the son" was the one who started that movement right? Only to have his name and all his teachings perverted by men who live in fear of being human. Afraid of their feelings, desires, and fulfilling their basic needs. I can say at this moment I have only met one man who fits definition of what I was told "the son" defined as a true christian.

I worship the moon, that large glowing orb in the sky that kisses us good night before bed, balancing out the movement of the planet, controlling the tides, and doing her part in caring for us.

I am not controlled by some higher Archy, no man or woman is above me, telling me how to live my life. Granted at one point I had a high priestess who initiated me 3 times into her coven, only to leave me empty handed when I was learning faster then I believe she ever thought I would. She treated me as an equal until I actually started to become one. She was the one who "changed" me. Made me realize that I really have no desire to follow anyone, I want to live for myself. Which is where teachings of the church of Satan come into play.

Oh ouch, I am sure you were not expecting that were you? Well folks I have read up on the teachings of Anton Lavey and contrary to popular belief most of what the church of satan teaches is to take care of yourself. Never mind this bull about helping others and so on.... the only one in the end who really matters is you. That is a very selfish belief, that I am aware of, but I am also aware of the fact that I spent most of my life doing for others, ignoring for the most part "my basic needs, desires and wants". The only place it has gotten me is nailed to a cross (so to speak) not exactly where I want to be.

I am a good person, I help out the best I can and I am not out to hurt anyone unless of course you do something to me, but that is another story. Allot of who I am steams from my being a "Heathen", as wrong as that may seem to some I can at least say..... I Will never end up as statistic on some late night TV show, being the victim of someone elses suicidal fantasy, having died for their crazy ass beliefs. Unless we end up back in the "Burning times" and I am burned at the stake for being a witch. Some times I wonder how much of a possibility that really is.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia..... how many witches were put to death in Salem during the Salem witch trials? Ready for this..... NONE... they were all Christians.

In the bitter end I may find that I am way off in my beliefs and that I have lived my life all wrong, but at least where I may end up it's hot and.... most folks know just how much I hate the cold.

It was brought to my attention that people might have misunderstood my mentioning the Church of Satan, making it appear as though I follow their teachings. I do not and that was not my point, I am just comparing my beliefs to what they teach...and trying to correct a misconception that most people have about them is all.

Norman Oklahoma

2008-11-15T08:20:00.001-08:00

Almost everyday I sit and listen to Shane go on and on about how "awesome" Norman is. Not that I have an issue with him saying so, it's how he feels and that makes it important, but it's still something I needed to discover for myself... and I have. I just returned home from running a few errands and I must admit Norman is pretty damn awesome. I believe this is the only place where people can be busy and laid back at the same time. They have their lives, their things that need to be done, but it is done in relaxed mode and I like that. It's not just that everything is within walking distance from us because it was in Boston as well. Except when you walk into the post office (in Mass) the people behind the counter seemed to have a stick up their ass. They had a bad day and it's all your fault. In Boston when you walk into a store they don't even make eye contact. They ring your shit up and pretty much push you out the door. Not physically of course but they may as well. People in western mass are not nearly as "cold" but they do not warm up until after you have become a regular. Once you have you tend to stick with that certain place, just so you don't have to worry about being treated like shit somewhere else.

There is also no fear when walking down the street here. Day or night in Mass you had to always be looking over your shoulder, you never knew who was waiting around the corner or behind the bushes, and if a car drove by your instincts told you to duck..... I don't care who was driving because lets face it you just never knew if that person was packing and if you happen to be walking in front of the house he/she was targeting.

Once a friend and I were driving through Springfield and we got lost. Whats the proper thing to do when it's late at night and you're lost? Well talk to a cop right?? We did, we pulled up beside a cruiser and explained that we had gotten turned around and that we were lost. The cop looked at my friend, asked what in gods name two young women were doing out at midnight in the middle of Springfield? She replied, we are trying to get home. He only told us to roll up the windows, lock the doors, drive straight ahead and do not stop until we saw signs that read "Chicopee". Turns out we were in the north end of Springfield and since we were both "young white women" (actually she was Hispanic), in a nice car.... (she was driving the fire bird), we were putting our lives in danger by just driving through that part of the city. What the hell is that all about? Needless to say we never went back to that part of Springfield. I avoid Springfield (the entire city) at all costs.

Close to where I lived in Mass, there was store that was owned by a couple of brothers from the Middle East. I don't care what people may think after everything that happened on 9/11 I would have placed my life in their hands before anyone else that lived by me. They had told me if you ever feel threatened or if you find that some one is following you then you come straight here... "we are armed from the back office to our cars" (an unfortunate necessity after 9/11) and "here you will be protected", Not only that but every cop in City hung out there. I never doubted for a moment that I would be safe there or that they were as well armed as they said, but hated the fact that they were driven to that extreme.

As I said, day or night I feel comfortable walking the streets here in Norman. I walked down to the park last night and felt at ease with everything around me. I did not worry about the cars passing by or the folks who came and went from the park while I was there. It was a little spooky, with the winds blowing the way there were, blocking out the light now and again, but I was more concerned about the possibility of ghosts then I was about someone "real" sneaking up behind me. It was more fun actually to wonder about the ghosts, at least I got to live for a moment in the ghost stories I heard as a child. Like the headless horseman was going to ride up over the bridge behind me and chop off my head, then to have to worry about the reality of the guy packing heat, driving down the street, and my happening to be in the firing range with out meaning to be.... wrong place wrong time, no thank you.... I will stay in Norman :-).

The Day After

2008-11-13T21:32:00.001-08:00

The morning after a major snow storm in Western Mass, January 08. Granted it's a beautiful sight.... But I still hate snow. :-)

Something a little different, and a Thank you to Steve Miller (Ok).

2008-11-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know I should have done this over the weekend, well blogged about this but dammit I had allot of recovering to do. Now that I think I have finally made it through the rough stuff, I would like to Thank Steve Miller (Ok) and his wife for hosting such an awesome party on Saturday night. From what I recall it was a blast. Yes I remember shooting off the Potato gun I even remember being a really bad shot but hell I had fun anyway. However I don't recall the ride home, just waking up on Robs couch....With Shane on the couch that was next to me.... So don't go there ;-).

I also know I met Reed Timmer and others from his crew but sorry guys I honestly can't remember much about you, if only you had gotten there a little earlier.

In case your wondering what this is all about, (scroll down), well I am originally from New England and its the gods honest truth. Although I get the feeling that I am an exception because I do not think 10 degrees is "a little bit chilly", although I have thanked god because the Temperature was "finally" 10 degrees. I can also tell you that one year we had to go out and buy an A/C in April because it was 90 and above for 5+ days (an actual heat wave) and the very next week we had to pull it out because we were freezing our asses off. Gotta love New England.

Forget Rednecks .......here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about
New Englanders...

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they
don't work there, you live in New England .

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New
England .

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who
dialed a wrong number, you live in New England .

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the
weekend, you live in New England .

If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England .

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you
live in New England .

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back
again, you live in New England .

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging
blizzard without flinching, you live in New England .

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave
both unlocked, you live in New England .

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use
them, you live in New England .

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit,
you live in New England .

If the speed limit on the highway is 65 mph you're going 80 and
everybody is passing you, you live in New England .

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled
with snow, you live in New England .

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and
road construction, you live in New England .

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live
in New England .

If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England .

If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England .

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your
New England friends & others, you live or have lived in New
England .

Finally home

2008-11-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

I arrived back home last night at about 9:45, as always Amtrak was behind schedule, surprised? It really was nowhere near as bad as trips I have been on in the past. I boarded the train at noon on Wednesday. It took all of about 20 minutes for me to "find my place". What I mean by that is to find good people to spend the day/night with. This time I did not have to change trains in Albany which was cool because it meant the entire trip to Chicago would be with the same people. Let me give you the cast of characters from this trip....

Fox: a 67 year old man from California... who had as many physical aliments as my dad did before he died. But damn could that man play poker.
Grandma: a woman (whose age I never got), from California who boarded along with Fox, no they were not together other then they had been in the same hospital.
Gumba, a 34 year old single guy from Boston who was on his way to New Mexico for a job and to start his life over.
Minn: A guy in his mid 30's from Minnesota and his woman Lisa. Lisa was a sweetie, Minn did a couple of things that pissed me off but other wise he was ok,

The Canucks: (sp) I have no idea if that is spelt right and I have no idea if that is an insult but they were three single college guys from Canada who were just out "it seemed" to have a good time, and were perfectly ok with being called Canucks.

Tara and Harleigh, a young mom and her beautiful 16 month old daughter who were on their way to Texas.

Diann: a grandmother on her way to Texas to see her new grand baby.

(and of course) Yours Truly:, who started out with the nick name "Okie", then it was changed to "stormchaser" but grandma decided my name was "Baby Girl" and it stuck.

Fox was an older man who just wanted to play cards. He stopped everyone he could and said hey do you play poker by any chance? I was asked as soon as I got on the train but this man reminded me way too much of my dad, and well my dad knew how to bluff his way through any card game so I knew better and said hell no. Everyone else however fell for it. Within 1 night Fox managed to win over 300 playing poker..... almost 200 came from he Canucks alone. Fox also won a fair share off Gumba and Minn, but the rest came from other folks on the train who probably figured he was an old man and they could beat him.... All I have to say to that is LMFAO. I really hope they learned a lesson that day.

By the time we reached Albany Fox had won a fare amount of money and decided he wanted chicken wings. I had gone from the train straight out side to call Shane since I had not spoken to him in a few hours and Fox found me out there. He told me baby girl I want chicken wings lets go. So we talked to a couple of locals and found a place just down the hill that sold them and headed out. Fox was in a wheel chair and there was no way he was going to get there alone which is one of the reasons I went. He purchased something like 50 wings, hot and mild and garlic bread and got on my ass about getting myself something. I finally gave in a grabbed a coke. We headed back up to the train station and he bitched about my not getting enough when we were at the pizza place, so to make him happy I got a salad and banana bread and we got our asses on the train. Out came the chicken wings and everyone feasted until the train pulled out of the station. At the point he talked me into playing a game of Gin with him and I agreed so long as it was not for money.

In the process of our game the Canucks came to the cafe` car and Fox saw his next target. He turned to them and said you boys play poker, of course he looked at me and said "shut up baby girl", they said hell yeah lets play. They were a very cool bunch of guys and in the end I really did kind of feel bad for not warning them about Fox. Eventually Gumba and Minn came back and joined us.

Gumba as I said was a single guy from Boston who happened to be really good at card tricks. That I thought was the bomb and he sat and showed me a few of them and explained how some of the tricks were done. There was not much else he could do at that point since Fox had pretty much wiped him out playing poker. Minn eventually came and sat with me as well. Now is when he did the first thing that was upsetting. The first time he and I talked was when he introduced himself and his girl to me while we were on a smoke break. At that time he told me that I had beautiful eyes. I was ok with that because he is not the first person to ever say that to me and his woman seemed ok with him saying it. However when he was sitting in the cafe` car he just looked at me and said "damn you really are beautiful" I was not to thrilled with that because of the way he said it and because his woman was asleep in the coach car. But when he said that the canucks heard him, Fox picked up on it as well and says well baby girl I guess he is not the only one who thinks so..... I looked up and saw these 3 guys with shit eating grins on their faces nodding in agreement. I just smiled and said that's nice of you guys now let me tell you about my man Shane. Hey I was able to tell them about his web site and his DVDs and got a free glass of wine out of it.... other then that they backed off right away so I was ok with it. It also took the focus off Minn and he ended up going back to sit with his woman... EXACTLY WHERE HE BELONGED!

Eventually we came up to another "smoke break" which is where I ran into Minn and Lisa again. While we were out there chatting he did something that made me want to bitch slap him but thankfully Lisa did it for me. You see I have this pair of jeans that are all ripped up. It's not anything I did on purpose, they were ruined when I was scrap metaling with my brother over the summer in Mass. They have a rip in the back and Minn walked up stuck his hand in the back part of my jeans and pulled.... ripping them more. Thankfully I am not STUPID and was wearing pants under them, I turned to say something and heard ..... "what the fuck is wrong with you" SMACK... It was his woman slapping him upside the head. Needless to say it was the last time anyone saw Minn (outside of smoke breaks).

We returned back to the Cafe` car after that. The canucks had gotten off the train at the smoke stop and we all sat in the glow of all the money Fox had won off them, had a few more drinks, and ate chicken wings. Afterwards everyone returned to their seats to get some sleep, but not until Gumba and I beat sleep long enough to make the 4am smoke break.

The next day we reached Chicago and hung out there for a while. My train was heading to Texas and the rest of them were on their way to California. Gumba ended up on the same train as Fox and grandma. Gumba and I went to the store and then hung out together for the remainder of my stay while grandma and Fox watched over our stuff, neither of them were up to doing much more then sitting in the station waiting for their train. The whole time I was with Gumba he checked out every female that happened by and kept asking me which one he should try and talk to. Sadly he did not actually talk to any one. He was a really good guy and ended up becoming like a brother to me and I would have definitely fixed him up with one of my friends.

My train left before theirs did, so after a bit of a tearful good bye and allot of hugs I boarded my train to Texas. Soon as I got on I felt a little bit lost, I really did enjoy that first train ride. It did not take long though before we pulled up to our first smoke stop and a young girl boarded the train with her daughter, they were Tara and Harleigh. I helped Tara up on the train and gave her a hand putting her bags up. She and I hit it off instantly and I ended up grabbing the seat behind her and her little girl. She was on her way to Texas to Marry her high school sweet heart who is stationed in Texas and is being deployed to Iraq in December. To think I was under the impression this was all finally coming to an end. (please note the sarcasm in that statement).

Harleigh was not a happy camper being on that train and mama was a bit of a nervous wreck, having a grumpy baby did not help matters much. We stuck together through out the trip and became friends. I did what little I could with Harleigh to help her out. To be honest I just wished I could have done more. Through out our time on the train we also met Diann. A kick ass grandma heading to the same base as Tara, to see her grand baby and her son who (get this) is being deployed to Iraq along side of Tara's husband. That was pretty cool because Tara and I were separated in Fort worth and at least she had some one to spend the remainder of her trip with.

Once we arrived in Fort worth Tara and Diann were allowed to get off the train long enough to say good bye to me and Tara and I promised to keep in contact because as she put it "we traveled half the country together so why not".

I was able to board my last train at 5 pm and the only thing that happened was when I was asked for my ID as I was getting my Bloody Mary (I get them only on that train) the bar tender announced that I was from Massachusetts and I got asked allot of questions about it. I fell asleep for part of the ride, and did not wake up till we hit Ardmore. At that point I was over come with the excitement that I was finally home and would be seeing Shane soon. So I was wired the rest of the way.

After a long hot shower, a meat shuttle and a little something something, I finally went off to sleep ..... content with my experiences and being back home and with my man :-).

My last night in Boston.

2008-11-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well it's my last day/night here in Boston... Sorry Revere. I went outside early this afternoon to have a smoke and it hit. The smell of the air, that salty/fishy I am close to the shore smell and I could not resist it, I had to walk down the shore. Sorry baby I am sure you won't be to happy to read this. But I figured since it was early in the day and most folks are out voting/working or in school who could I possibly run into. One amazing thing I have discovered here is that on school days they don't have "crossing guards" on the streets they have transit cops instead. I saw a few people jogging along the beach... I do believe it was 3 all together. Not only that it is 9 houses from where I am staying to the shore. Its not like I wandered that far. Barely half a street away. At night, when Logan is calmed down a little and the T is not running, stand out on the porch and you can hear the waves crashing against the shore

The view from the shore out to the water was breath taking as always, the sky was a beautiful light blue color with the clouds just starting to roll in. It always looks that way the closer to winter we get. Turn around though and look on the beach and it is a disgusting pile of garbage. It's very sad to see how people treat this planet especially when you consider that right now it's the only place we have. I can recall taking my son there in the past to play on the beach. Granted he would take off running for the water the moment he "thought" he had the chance, but mommy was always a little to fast for him. We never let him get to close to water and it's not just because we feared the possibility of his drowning. But because the water is so contaminated that you don't want to get into it anyway. At the time the shore it's self was not cluttered with trash the way it is now. By the time my youngest was born we had to travel further north to go to the beach. Up towards New Hampshire, because it was not as bad. Although it has been a couple of years since I have been up that way so things could have changed.

I walked along the shore a short distance looking for shells, like I use to do. I came across a few claws which I thought for a brief moment were lobster claws but as I got a closer look I realized they were crab claws. As my friend said we don't have lobsters here in Boston we have crabs..... (don't think about that one to long) and by the way it's "lobsta claws mutha fucka, get it straight" and you guys think I talk funny?? On Samhain some guy stopped his car next to where I was standing and said Happy Halloween Sweethuat. At least I remember to use R's when I am talking.

I asked my friend what the hell happened to all the R's and she just laughed and said we are to good for them. Oh and they don't put sugar in their coffee they put suga in their cauffee. It really is pretty funny, I was actually corrected for saying "sugar". Yes I was told it's suga, although I know the woman who corrected me was kidding.

It dawned on me as I was out walking that this is going to be the last time I would see the ocean for a while, I use to come up this way a few times a year. I had to asked myself if I was ready for that. I gave it allot of thought and I realized that nothing in this world, not even the beauty of the ocean can replace that feeling, that high that comes from chasing. And if people don't like the fact that I feel this way then they can take a long walk off a short "piea". Maybe one day I will be able to put it into words, not that I am all that concerned with doing so. I just know it's what I want to do and I intend on doing it until mother nature herself decides my time is up, and takes me out of the chase.

My train departs in the early afternoon tomorrow and I will be back in Oklahoma Friday night. To be honest I am really looking forward to returning home and settling down for a while. I really hate the train rides, but if it's what I have to do then so be it.

Planes, Trains and Completely Insane

2008-11-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Folks that live in Boston,.. real "New Englanders" or "really stupid". 40 degrees and people are on the beach wearing shorts and t-shirts. Personally I am leaning towards really stupid. I walked down to the beach today and it really was just to cold for my taste. The whole time I was out I realized that sitting in the house watching TV all day is a hell of allot better then being outside. Thank the gods for fear net.

I have been here now 2 days and things were pretty quiet, but tonight is another story. I had no idea that my friend lived in a direct flight path to Logan airport... what joy. I swear in the past hour there have been at least 20 planes that have flown over head. Combine that with her living within walking distance to the Train tracks, the ones the T run on and it's nothing but noise all around. It's amazing people would even want to live here. It would be nice if folks got a break on rent but no deal. This place rents for 1,400 a month, and to think my friend wanted me to grab the apartment next to her, not in this life time.

I will be leaving on Wednesday to head back to Oklahoma and I cannot wait. Yes it means enduring another train ride back but hey that's life. Who knows maybe one of these days I will get the balls up and try flying. At least with flying its 5 hours in the air as opposed to 2 days on a train. Not important right now though, Shane will be waiting at the end of the line and at the moment that's all I really care about. I really am growing weary of these trips to Mass. Granted I have family and friends out here, but I really just want to be home.... where its quiet and sane.

condensation, exorcism and pork fried rice

2008-10-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Samhain all,

Yay I finally have Internet access again..... I have been in Mass now for almost two weeks and the lack of Internet access has lead me to watching way to much TV. Thank god it was close to Samhain because there was a few shows on TV that were actually worth watching, and a few shows that never should have been aired. One of those shows that never should have aired was "The Real Exorcist". I believe the name of the man doing these exorcisms is Bob Larson... Actually I am sure of it. Apparently all you need is to give this guy your credit card number and for a nominal fee he will stop by and smack you upside the head with a bible, tell the demons to go away and poof your cured from what ever psychological issues happen to afflict you. I watched at least one and a half episodes of this show on the sci-fi channel and then I had to shut it off. It's funny enough when it's the catholic church doing it, at least they make it some what interesting, almost believeable. But this Reverend or what ever the hell he is has made an even bigger mockery of this practice then the church and has made the Catholic church look almost sane. Before anyone gets their undies in a knot I was baptized a catholic and spent a good deal of time in the church before I skipped Sunday school to become a witch. I know enough to be able to make fun of them so there ;-).

I also saw my share of Ghosthunter shows over this past week. There were two things that fascinated me when I was growing up... Stormchasing and ghost-hunting. I guess you could say stormchasing beat out ghost-hunting but I have not lost my interest in it. So when there is nothing going on weather wise I go back and see whats up in the ghost hunting world. I saw a few episodes of ghost hunters which was cool. But goddamnit Steve I know what an EVP is do you really need to explain it with every episode? Man I hope they are paying you well to do that, cause hon it's getting old. I did see the episode where they investigated Theodore's in Springfield and was surprised, and really happy to hear that Steve is still playing the drums, good on you man.

I watched another ghost-hunter show, I cannot recall the name but I do believe this one was on the history channel. They took a family to an old castle and allowed them to hunt for ghosts. Sadly I could not even get through 10 minuets of it. They happened to flash on a pillar that was in this castle and claimed that a small amount of water that was coming down the side of it was tears. So now there are crying pilars??? please... looked to me like a clear case of condensation and they ended up sounding like a bunch of wacos.... they lost me right there.

One other show I watched about ghost hunters that I found to be most fascinating was ghost adventures. This show aired on the travel channel and had in it what I believe to be some very convincing evidence that ghosts exist. If you happen to be a non believer, there is a good chance you won't be after you see what they have for evidence. I look forward to seeing if they can top the show that aired Thursday night.

During the week that I spent in Western Mass, I got to hang out with my brat (my youngest) who is doing very well. I spoke with his teachers and learned that he is doing as good as ever in school and seems to be handling the divorce pretty well. Despite what his father told me. I kind of got the idea about why I was asked to come back when my ex asked me out to dinner. Sadly I had to respectfully decline. Hey at least I was nice about it. My brat told me his daddy was crazy for ever telling me there were issues here in Mass. So we made plans for his trip in December and I was told he best have allot of gifts "from Santa" waiting for him in Oklahoma.... little shit lol.

My oldest is doing well and my first ex-husband (marriage is so not worth it, the best way to ruin a really good relationship is to get married, I learned that the hard way..... twice) called me to let me know that my oldest child's surgery will be in January. I was really happy to see the doctors had moved up the date. He will have to be re-trached with this surgery which I am not happy about, my poor little guy has been through so much. I am hoping that this will be the last surgery and that he will finally be able to come to Oklahoma for visits like his brother. I have not made it a point to push for him to travel because of his condition, For now I will just travel back to Mass to see him.... which I will be doing again come January.

I also decided on my last night there (in Western Mass) to order Chinese. I ordered from a place I use to frequent every week (North China), but had them deliver it instead. To my surprise the person who showed up at the door was one of the owners, and despite my being gone for a while, he actually remembered me. He was a bit surprised to see me and asked me where the heck I have been all of this time. I told him how I had moved to Oklahoma and what I have been up to and he only requested that I come back and see them once in a while. I must say the food from there was amazing as always..... the pork fried rice and egg rolls being my favorite ;-).

Right now I am in Revere spending a few days with my best friend. We have already made plans to order Chinese food and watch horror movies tonight... that was our thing once a week when she lived in Western Mass. Ought to be a fun night indeed :-).

Oh look a post

2008-10-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

For anyone reading this and expecting all sorts of stories about stormchasing, allow me to inform you this is the only post that will have anything to do with it for a little while. Mainly because I am a "rookie chaser", this was my first year out on the plains, and even though I have seen my fair share of tornadoes this year, I have not seen enough to feel comfortable enough to carry on about. I can tell you that I saw my first tornado on May 22 some where around Trego county Kansas (hey at least I knew you had electricity out here, even if I am unsure of exactly where I was that day). Actually I saw my first 5 tornadoes between May22-23 in Kansas. Despite that though, nothing could have ever prepared me for what I experienced on May 24Th in north central Oklahoma. I've heard stories about what the storms were like out here but never imagined that something so powerful could be real. On that day I was lucky enough to witness 11 tornadoes spawn from one storm. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life. That storm will remain etched in my memory forever and having the entire thing on video makes it 100 times better. This year I was unable to actually get any of my own footage because on my first trip down here (in March) my video camera was stolen from me.

Due to flooding in Texas (back in March) the train I was on did not run the entire route and I was forced to bus from Chicago to Oklahoma. Despite my camera being placed on the bus in St Louis, when I finally reached Norman it was gone. I am still a bit pissed off about that, but I guess it is a blessing in disguise because I have been needing to get a new one for some time now anyway. Of course it meant that I missed out on filming anything this year, but hey at least Shane got them on video. It may not be mine, but it is better then no video at all.

Yes, I have finally met Shane and a bunch of other chasers here in Oklahoma and I must say I like each and every one of them :-). For the most part I have kept my mouth shut when I am around them, but that is because I am more interested in learning from their experiences then spending years making mistakes.

Tomorrow morning I will be boarding an Amtrak train for the 7th time in 8 months and heading back to Massachusetts. All the loose ends that I thought were tied up have managed to come undone and I need to head back and tie a few nooses before I can continue on with my life here in Norman. In all honesty these trips half way across the damn country are becoming tiring and I am getting really sick of doing it. I am thrilled that I will be seeing my boys sooner then I had first expected (relax I have shared custody with their dads) but the fact that I have to deal with their fathers does not thrill me. If all goes as planned I should be back in Norman by no later then Christmas/New years at which time my youngest will be returning with me, even if it's only (for him) to see Oklahoma. I think to some extent he is heart broken that I am coming back because he was looking forward to coming out here for Christmas, so I am going to try and plan it so that he still gets that opportunity. I also still have the bloody settlement that should have been in my hand 6 months ago to take care of. When I get back to Norman this time I will be allot more prepared, and my ex will either have to hand my kid over or grow up and keep to his end of the deal, because I am not doing this again for a long long time. But on the bright side, I tend to meet a hell of allot of interesting characters on these trips so I should have loads to talk about when I get back to where I have an Internet connection ;-).