Interior Design Primer

Yesterday I was accused of boring blogging by someone who blogs on occasion.  This critic believes my best work is done when I blog about interior design and the DS of the Week.  Since he is a devoted reader, I will give him what he wants.  This first blog will cover the basic skills needed to balance form and function, beauty and comfort into your home.  Please remember that I am not a trained interior designer - it simply come natural.  Use these rules and techniques in your home and you will be thought of as an inspired designer of comfortable living spaces.

Rule #1 - Use color and pattern.  Look at this example!  What a bold use of color to draw attention to the predominate features in the room.  This designer was not afraid to use lots of color and lots of pattern in one space, and neither should you.  Wouldn't it be a shame to live in a solid color room with solid color furniture accented with solid color pillows plus maybe one patterned one?

Rule #2 - Understand wood.  Use it to your advantage in your home.  Getting wood in each room creates a warm feeling that makes a house a home.  This designer used wood in their bedroom.  Notice how the furniture is arranged so they can view and enjoy the wood?

Rule #3 - Be creative.  The worst thing you can do when designing your interior is stay inside the normal boundaries.  Do you really want a home that looks like your neighbors?  This designer didn't and took great risks to ensure their home was unique to any other in the universe.

Rule #4 - Use green.  Green is the predominate color in nature, so use it liberally in your home.  This designer  used green in their kitchen.  Think of how often the ceiling will color coordinate with the food they are serving.  But don't make the mistake of using green only in the kitchen.  Green is a great color for the bathroom also.  Green bathroom tile is making a come back in certain parts of the country.

Rule #5 - Never put form ahead of function.  Remember that no matter how pretty the room is, you still have to live in it.  This designer had that in mind when designing efficiency into their kitchen.  Just think how easy this kitchen will make meal preparation.  When facing to the right and preparing a meal, a quick 180 degree turn and they are facing their canned goods.  No more stooping to reach items or opening cabinet doors.  This is simply a marvelous kitchen design.

Follow these 5 simple rules and you too can become an interior designer.  A new DS of the week will be named in the next blog posting.

I Could've Made a Difference

A couple of weeks ago I anointed the KC Royals as the 2011 World Series Champions.  They were 10-4 at the time, in first place, and looking good in all areas of the game.  Since then they have gone 2-8 and looked like the Royals we have come to expect.  I now wonder if they can become the champs.  I can't help but think that I could've made a difference.  If I were just the starting shortstop, things could be a lot better.  A couple of key hits in crucial situations, a nicely turned double play, taking an extra pitch and drawing a walk, or just keeping the clubhouse mood positive.  They could be 18-6 and the surprise of the league.  If only I were the starting shortstop.  I could've made the difference. 

On Wednesday evening I watched American Idol.  The talent level of the contestants are no different than prior years, yet the program is no longer enjoyable.  I really don't care who is the 2011 American Idol.  What is the difference?  The judges.  What a shame.  Each one takes their turn saying the same thing.  "You are so great", "That was beautiful", "You rock!", "You are in it to win it".  I guess that would be true if each contestant was that good, but they are not.  When the judges only provide positive feedback, they cheat the performer on what is needed to improve.  They are playing the grandparent role, and not the coach.

Simon knew how to honestly assess the performance and provide candid feedback.  He was also entertaining when he did it.  I should have been named Simon's replacement.  I can provide candid feedback, like "That was unbearable, sort of like fingernails on a chalkboard" or "You suck".  That is what this year's show lacks.  Honest feedback.  I could've made a difference. 

I Stand Corrected

Last weekend my niece Heather and her husband NILK visited from Memphis.  It was a great time for -T and I as we always enjoy our time with a young and middle aged person who have their heads screwed on straight.  They left around noon on Easter after enjoying a brunch of -T's ebberwaffles and eggs.  There was supposed to be bacon, but ... you will probably hear about that later.  During brunch I started telling them a story of when BILL , SILC, -T and I visited a Branson winery and participated in a tasting of their products. 

As I told the story, we were standing around a high table next to an older couple who were obviously Ozark hill people.  You could tell by the toothless grins, and how there were nowhere as sophisticated as SILC (the standard I always use to compare others).  The tasting started by pouring everyone a sample of grape juice that was sold at the winery.  "mmm, pretty good" was the reaction from all around the table.  The next sample was a sweet fruity wine which brought the same reaction.  Subsequent samples became progressively dry (bitter), until the final sample brought a dramatic reaction from the older lady from the hills.  She shrieked "yaaaakkkkk!, that was awful" as she spewed her sample out on the table.  Not the typical high brow wine sampler reaction.   BILL, SILC, -T and I found the reaction to be hilarious. 

-T remembers the event, possibly better than I do and corrected me midway through the story.  She claims the tasting started with the dry wine and moved to progressively sweeter wines.  Maybe she is right.  I told the story how I remember it, and it made a better story my way.  But in the spirit of honesty and accuracy, I will post these corrections:

• During the wine tasting at Stone Hill winery in Branson Missouri, the order of the tasting may well have been from dry to sweet.
• In a past blog about School Lunches, I did claim that my grand daughter's school required that 2 fruits and 1 vegetable be included in lunches brought by the kindergartners.  I now need to correct that post by stating it was actually policy for preschoolers and applied to my grandson Clay.

I am sorry for any inconveniences these innocent errors my have caused and will attempt to blog more accurately in the future.  Everything else you may have read on Simple Thoughts is entirely accurate and can be believed without question.

 

DS of the Week - Scott Adams

Scott is the recipient of this week's DS award.  I actually like Scott.  He is the cartoonist that creates the comic strip Dilbert.  Dilbert is my favorite comic.  Of all time.  Scott is absolutely a genius at poking fun at the daily activities that occur in most offices.  When Scott blogs, I don't like him so much.  Scott is a lib.  Here is a recent excerpt from his daily blog.

I wonder if any old-time racists still exist. I knew a few racists when I was a kid, back in upstate New York. In my adult life, I don't think I've met one. I wonder, does such a person exist who can watch President Obama on the news, then meet an unfamiliar African-American guy and assume in advance that he's less...what? I might be able to draw comics better than President Obama, but only because he hasn't tried. On every other comparison I wouldn't do so well. I don't think I'm alone. I don't mean to insult you, but if I'm picking teams for chess, debate, Scrabble, or basketball, I'm picking Obama before you. And I don't even know you.


Scott sounds like he may be guilty of idol worship.  He supports Obama simply because he believes Obama is a smart guy.  Check your principals at the door - vote for who you think is the smartest.  Disregard the platform and what the candidate says.  Intelligence is the only criteria to use when selecting a leader.  People like Scott are the reasons we currently have an inexperienced president who is struggling to lead. 

Voting for a man just because he is smart?  I suspect Hitler was smart.  So was Bernie Maddoff.  I am glad we they didn't run for president in 2008, or Scott and his ilk may have voted them in.

I found that Scott's selection of Obama to his basketball team stereotypical, and borderline racist.  Yet, the intent of his blog appears to be to smear those who do not support Barrack as the racists.  

I will continue to read Dilbert each day, but when Scott Adams blogs, he shows himself as a DS.

Zero Tax Payment

The media has played up General Electric' zero federal income tax in 2010 recently.  Why haven't they followed up with the story that 47% of all American wage earners didn't pay any federal income tax either? 

Of the two stories, The GE non-payment impacts the average tax payer less than the 47%, since GE would pass their tax burden on to consumers as a cost of doing business. 

Each of the 47% who don't pay a federal tax directly increase the amount of taxes paid by the 53% who do.  I think that is the bigger story.

I Like to Watch - Jane Eyre

On Saturday I gave -T the chance to get even with me for making her see "The Music Never Stopped".  She made sure the score would be even by the end of the day by selecting "Jane Eyre".  But like the good husband I am, I did not complain and accompanied her with the obediency I have instilled into both our children, and was subsequently passed to my grand kids.

I found the movie to be a classic cinematic masterpiece, well acted and with a certain elegance few movies can claim.  The plot was complex and brought surprises at every turn. The story went something like this.

People can be mean.  Jane was sad.  People were mean to Jane.  Jane Eyre was a sad child and a sad teenager.  Jane Eyre was a movie about mean people and a sad person.   I picked that up during the first 10 minutes.  About then Jane blasted right through the cup of coffee I had downed from the concession stand and hit me like a horse tranquillizer.

The next thing I know is that the lady a few seats down had to go to the restroom, so I woke up and let her pass.  I noticed that Jane was still sad, but also forgiving to an aunt who was mean to her.  The horse tranquillizer kicked in again.

The next thing I know is that the movie had an ending and -T woke me up.  The closing credits were playing sad music, so I don't think much of the plot changed while I snoozed.  Jane Eyre was about meanness and sadness.  Oh, yeah, and forgiveness.  I suspect it may be a movie they turn into a book.  Sort of like Les Misérables, which was a much better movie than Jane Eyre.  After watching Les Misérables, I thought it could become a classic if they turned it into a book.  A few days later I was at a book store, and bam! There it was.  Les Misérables, the book.  They must have had it ready to go when the movie was released.

-T liked Jane Eyre.  You will have to ask her about it.  I think the moral of the story is that people can be mean.  We should forgive them.  And that -T and I are now even.

DS of the Week - Barack Obama

After a hiatus of 36 years, we have a new DS of the week.  I can't remember who was the last one, but the new one is President Barack Obama.  He now has something to display next to his Nobel Peace Prize.  The only difference between the two is that this award is deserved.  Why does he deserve this award? 

During a conversation he thought was on with donors to his campaign, he said the following:

"I said, 'You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we 're stupid?'"

Yes, I do wonder.  Over 65% of the population has no interest in his stupid  health care scam, yet he defends and protects it with more enthusiasm that he defends our country.

He also deserves this award for leaving a snickers in the punch bowl when instead of comparing and contrasting his budget plan to Paul Ryan/s, he opted to trash Ryan's intentions and tells fibs about how Republicans want to leave the poor and elderly behind.  How can he expect productive negotiations after laying that groundwork?

Anyone who gave a fair review to Obama's speech on deficient reduction knows that he was extremely deceitful.  In the words of Representative Joe Wilson, "You lie!"

DS of the Week

Once upon a time in the land of Shawnee Kansas, a young man was hired by the Red Lobster restaurant chain.  He started as a busboy earning $1.60 per hour which was minimum wage at the time.  Very soon he proved his value to the restaurant manager, who acted on the young man's request to do real work in the kitchen.  The young man was promoted to dishwasher.  But he had not yet reached his potential. Within a few weeks he became the back up cook, fry cook, broiler man, assembler and finally the lead role in the Red Lobster kitchen, expediter.

This was a time before computers, the Internet, or blogging.  Yet, this young man yearned to do something more.  He wanted to write.  So he began a weekly column, published only in the break room of the Red Lobster where he worked.  The column was called "DS of the Week".  Each week, the young man would faithfully chronicle events that occurred in the restaurant that he considered to be stupid.  It might be a dishwasher who dropped a stack of plates, a back up cook who left a can of oysters unrefrigerated for a day or two, or a broiler man who rested his arm on the white hot broiler grate.  There was never a shortage of material.

The purpose of the DS of the Week column was to poke a little fun at comrades and be as humorous as possible.  The column had the support of the restaurant manager who saw it as a way to build teamwork while learning from mistakes.  Nobody become too upset when named DS of the Week, and everyone got their turn.  Little did that young man know that DS of the Week would eventually become Stupid Letter of the Week, and regularly followed by up to 12 different people.

So now you will understand the name change and why I don't plan to use Stupid Letter of the Week any longer.  So what does DS stand for you might ask?  Well, it's a compound word that starts with Dumb.  Since I do not curse, that is all I can say.

Two Budgets

Last week the Congress reached an agreement on a short term spending resolution that supposedly cut around $40b from the budget.  What I find humorous is that our representatives aren't hiding in shame over their efforts.  That is because in the time it took them to reach the agreement, we had spent more in interest on the national debt that they supposedly saved.  They continue to nibble around the edges of the problem instead of tackling it.  Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

Now the Congress is taking up the larger issue of increasing the debt ceiling and passing next year's budget.  Those fights will make last week's threat of a government shut down look like a small skirmish.  Raising the debt ceiling will get done since it is the only way Congress can continue to spend money, and America cannot risk defaulting on our debts.  The battle royale will be on next year's budget.  There will be 2 budgets submitted for debate.

The first budget has already been released by Rep. Paul Ryan.  His budget tackles entitlements through various ways, such as block granting funds to the states, and privatizing certain responsibilities.  His budget also provides some tax reduction intended to stimulate economic growth.  Since Ryan's budget focuses on spending, there is a lot of pain in it.  Liberals have already, and will continue to criticize the budget as friendly to business and hurtful to the middle and lower income citizens.  It is probably a fair criticism.  Those who benefit from government spending the most will feel the most pain.  Those who generate the most government revenue will be spared much of the pain.

Within the next few days, a liberal budget will be released.  That budget will increase taxes, especially on corporations and the wealthy.  That budget will not seriously address entitlement spending.  That budget will be an easy sell to the American public who rarely look beyond the surface.  The sound bites will sound good, and their budget will become the most popular.  But it will not solve our debt crisis.  Why?  The simple answer is that we don't have a tax rate problem, we do have a spending problem, and the liberals will never agree on reduced spending.  If the next budget were to increase the tax rate to 100% for everyone earning >$250k a year, all fortune 500 companies, and confiscate the assets of every American billionaire, they could not fund the federal government for a single year. 

Any American who supports increasing the corprate tax rate is deluded.  Increasing that tax only increases the cost of doing business for the corporation.  As with any cost of doing business, it is passed on through higher prices for their goods and services.  Does anyone really believe a corporation that eats the higher tax rate will be in business very long?  Increasing the corporate tax rate increases cost to all Americans.  It is simply a hidden tax that makes for a good sound bite.

Any budget that does not aggressively attack entitlement spending is simply smoke and mirrors that will not solve the problem - SPENDING.

School Lunches

Earlier this week I learned the school my grand daughter goes to requires that her sack lunch include 2 fruits and 1 vegetable.  My first reaction was the policy was insane.  What are they doing?  Do they think that school lunches are more nutritious than those carried in, so they need to enforce a nutrition policy?  Or is it that a potential exists for "lunch envy"  when one student sees a better tasting lunch brought in by another student.  I am sure that would set off a few riots in the kindergarten lunch room at her Christian school.  Maybe even a food fight reminiscent of "Animal House".

This was new information to me, and if still a parent of a grade school child would set me off - sorta like when my daughter's kindergarten teacher began a policy of assigning homework every day.  She really wasn't assigning homework to the student, but rather to the parent.  Assignments were things like "count the number of red items in your house", or "dress a bag of in-the-shell peanuts in authentic Civil War clothing and reenact the battle of Gettysburg".  Okay, only one of these was true.  But the point is that it forced the parent to spend considerable time with their child each day to finish a stupid pointless assignment.  Have you met Allison?

Then I find out on the news that in other areas of the country, certain items such as potato chips, cupcakes, soda, and Twinkies are banned from sack lunches. And one school in Chicago has banned students from bringing in sack lunches!  That goes way too far.  I am of the opinion that a parent should be allowed to send Red Bull and Cotton Candy in their own child's sack lunch if that is what they want them to have for lunch.

Now is That Really Helpful?

Forget about Gabrielle Giffords ushering in a new environment of civility, the current budget battle between Republicans and Democrats is increasing the volume of hyperbole.  Here are a few quotes taken over the last 2 days:

Nancy Pelosi: “There is actually a war on women,”  taking aim at House Republicans’ efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to abortions, among other measures.

Jesse Jackson: “This is a Civil War fight, I think Time magazine has it right. This is the 150th anniversary of the 1861 Civil War. Now those are determined to shut the federal government down to make their point — their ideological-religious point.”

Washington D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (another democrat):“We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians,”.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "This is Virginia's big weekend. It's the cherry blossom, the cherry blossom festival. People plan to come here all year, and one of the things they want to do when they come here is take a walk down the Mall, go to the National Art Gallery, go to one of the great Smithsonian museums. Won't do that, they'll close at 12:00 tonight. All of this to stop women from getting the regular tests and preventative services that they need,".  Harry! Which is it?  Do the Republicans want to be mean to tourists or women?

Remember these the next time you hear democrats call republicans mean-spirited.

Stupid Letter of the Week

The honor of being named the most stupid person to write a letter to the KC Star this week goes to K. Edward Young.  You have to worry about the opinion of anyone who uses their first initial.  Makes you wonder if they are ashamed of it.  I think K stands for Kook.  So I will call K. Edward Young, Kook for short.  He proves it with the first sentence of his letter.  Anyone know what counties America has taken over recently?


End warmongering



We need to replace the Pentagon warmongers. Instead of going around the world taking over countries in the name of democracy, the U.S. should let the affected people decide what they want.


Look at the Middle East. We go to their countries to promote democracy and human rights.


In their eyes, we are the aggressors and use force upon those who do not accept democracy, as we occupy and desecrate their land.

Every year we spend trillions of dollars in the region, and all over the world to treat people like this.


The United Nations and NATO tell us to go take care of the problems.


Do we ever see any other countries coming forward, putting their soldiers on the line more than us? Do we ever see those war debts paid back to us?


Billions of dollars goes to Pakistan to help fight al-Qaida every year. Have we seen a dividend?


Bring our soldiers home. Protect our citizens and our borders. Save those billions of dollars. Cut the Pentagon’s budget.


K. Edward Young
Kansas City, Kan.

In the Kook's world, the Pentagon decides where to start wars the citizens of those countries don't want.  I guess he hasn't read the Consistution that gives control of the military to the President.  I also don't believe he has stayed on top of current events and doesn't know that Libyians started this war themselves to get what they want - freedom from a dictator.

The bad county, America, goes to the mid east to promote democracy and human rights.  Gastly!  We are so bad.  We should be ashamed!  I wonder if the average Iraqi or Afghan would agree that America has desecrated their land?  I doubt it.

What an idiot.  Kook, you are what is wrong with America.  Blaming this country for supporting democracy and human rights across the world.  You should be ashamed of much more than your first name! 

Weather Obsession? Maybe.

Earlier this week I posted about an episode of severe weather we had in the neighborhood. I indicated that my normal location when severe weather rolls in is standing on the front porch. I have always had a interest in extreme weather. A good thunderstorm with lots of lightening will entertain me for the duration. The past 3 years living in Basehor has satisfied that interest with several severe weather days, a couple of blizzards and more snow than I can ever remember in a 2 year stretch.

But even before that, others have noticed my weather interests. SILC and -T always gave me trouble for watching the Weather Channel so much back in the eighty's. I had to explain to them that I was interested in the channel only because they were originally owned by the same company that owned TeleCable, my employer of the time. But I will admit that I also liked to follow the weather radar. That was new and cool.

My interest in weather probably comes from my mother. She was deathly afraid of tornados. Living in Kansas in a home without a basement is a bad thing for someone with that phobia. My mother had my father construct a tornado shelter in the crawlspace of our house.  It was made of four 4"x4" posts with a 3/4 inch plywood roof. I seriously doubt whether it would have provided any significant protection form a tornado. It would more likely ensure that all of us were smashed equally under the weight of a collapsed house.

Yet, during each tornado scare, we would all crawl under the shelter in our damp, dark, musty crawlspace and wait for the portable radio or tornado sirens to inform us it was safe to exit. We had a map of the Kansas City area, complete with concentric circles at peridoic miles from downtown. This allowed us to plot sighted tornados and predict whether we were in their path. We were set up in case a tornado did destroy our house. We had bottles of water and saltine crackers to sustain us until rescuers arrived. We had water putty to plug a broken gas line that we happened to share under the shelter. We had empty Miracle Whip jars to use to relieve ourselves in. We had flashlights and a transistor radio.

I think my mother was this way because of weather events in her life. I seem to remember a story from her childhood when high winds or a tornado struck as they barely escaped into the storm shelter of their house. There was also a nearby F5 tornado catastophe in the Ruskin Heights neighborhood of Kansas City in 1957. Forty people dies in that storm which leveled a 71 mile path from Williamsburg Kansas to Martin City Missouri. I can imagine this left an impression on a young mother with a 1 year old son (me). Her maternal instinct was to protect her family. This was the environment that my interest in weather, specifically severe weather grew.

Ruskin Heights High School gymnasium. 
I don't know how many times my mother told us the story of the tornado that could spell.

2011 ACM Awards

On Sunday night the Acadamy of Country Music (ACM) handed out their awards for 2011.  This is the big event of the year for Country Music.  So many of you are wondering if they got it right this year.  I give them a C-.  Here is my review of the effort.  Remember, I try to assess the talent, while the ACM judges based on poularity.
Awards:

Vocal Event of the Year: “As She’s Walking Away” – Zac Brown Band ft. Alan Jackson - Good pick.  Zac Brown doesn't win enough awards.  This guitar band that can sing is one of the brightest spots in country music now.  It is also nice they were able to prop up an aging country boy singer who is on his last legs.

Video of the Year: “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert - Stupid category, but if you have to pick a winner, why not this one.

Song of the Year: “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert - How many times can one artist win an award for a single song.  The funny thing is that she won Album of the Year for "Revolution" during last year's ACM awards, and this song is on that album.  How many years do they allow a song to qualify for this award?


Single Record of the Year: “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert - Okay, somebody tell me the difference between Song and Single of the year.  I think they are the same.


Album of the Year: “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum - Interesting. Last year, Miranda won the album awards for "Revolution", while Lady Antebellum won the single awards for "Need You Now".  This year, they simply swapped awards.  Does this mean there isn't that much good new Country Music?  I think there is.  The academy just isn't trying hard enough.


Top New Artist: The Band Perry - Okay, these one hit (so far) wonders are interesting enough.  We will see if they can follow up their debut album with something that still sounds like Country Music.


Top New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year: The Band Perry - Again a double award for the same thing.  Stupid.

Top New Solo Vocalist of the Year: Eric Church - Who?


Top Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum - Over rated.  Lady Antebellum got a lot of air play on both pop and country stations this year.  That doesn't make them good, it only makes them popular.  Personally, I would love to never hear "Need you Now" ever again.  It was an over-played song on a mediocre album.


Top Vocal Duo of the Year: Sugarland - Who else now that Brooks and Dunn broke up?


Top Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert - Miranda is a great entertainer and song writer.  She has never been a great vocalist.


Top Male Vocalist of the Year: Brad Paisley - Three years straight.  I am good with this one.

Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift - It has been three years they removed the Entertainer of the Year tattoo from Pretty Boy Kenny.  I am glad they started spreading this award around, however I am not sure Taylor is the most deserving.

Performances:


Best of the night was a tie.  Keith Urban performed in the manner that makes him special - just himself, a guitar and a chair.  Forget the screaming electric guitars Keith.  Last night's performance is what sets you apart from the others.  Also great was the Zac Brown Band with Jame Taylor.  Although James sounded old and frail, their transtion from "Colder Weather" to "Sweet Baby James" was a highlight of the evening.  These guys (ZBB) don't get enough credit.

The only other performance that I can remember was Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland) with Rhianna.  Talk about a beat down.  I have never seen one artist turn a duet into a street fight that ends with Jennifer sitting on top and rubbing Rhianna's nose in the fact there is no vocal comparison between the two.  Jennifer was brilliant.  Rhianna was missing in action. Maybe she stepped backstage for a brief crying jag.  She was so out of place.  It was like comparing a professional singer to a grade school musician.  Oh wait, maybe that was exactly what it was.

Make sure that you check out my NCAA tournament prediction.

Severe Weather

Even though I have lived in the so-called Tornado Alley all my life, I have never seen one (I won't count the nanosecond view of one I once had from my grade school window before the teacher intervened).  I thought that was going to change last night.  We had an especially hot humid day for April 3rd.  The record high was 82 and we hit 91 around 2:30 in the afternoon.  Winds were strong all day.  A strong cold front was coming, so the set up was great for severe weather. 

Around 7:00 PM I did what I always do when severe weather is close - I stand on my front porch and watch it.  I hadn't been watching to long before I spotted a strange cloud formation that had my attention.  From radar I knew that a super cell thunderstorm was nearby.  I was able to see the upward building of the core and thought it looked to be passing just to my northwest.

As I continued to watch, I noticed a building sound of high winds.  It started very low, but was increasing in volume.  Soon I was convinced that a tornado was near.  Did I take cover?  No, instead I stepped out into the yard to see if I could spot the funnel.  I saw nothing, and soon the noise began to abate.  It was then that I decided to head to the basement, not for shelter but to see if -T has heard it also.  She had, and commented on how it had rattled the windows and doors.

Shortly after, Lyndy called and we tried to have a conversation, but could not due to the hysterical screaming of our grand kids over the phone.  Lyndy was calling to tell us there was some wind damage in her neighborhood and their power was knocked out.  They had arrived home just as the wind that I had heard hit their neighborhood.  So instead of inviting them over to ride out the power outage, -T and I climbed in the car and went over to see the damage.

Lyndy had some blown down sections of fence and lost a little siding from their house, but nothing too serious. Many of their neighbors fared much worse.  We saw snapped trees, broken or blown out windows, and several out building that were severely damaged or completely destroyed.  Lyndy's yard was littered with much of the debris.

I suspect what I heard was a microburst.  The noise sounded quite near, however the force of the wind at my house was minimal.  Just 200-300 feet from us, the damage began.  I suspect it formed immediately overhead with the force limited to a narrow path a few hundred feet wide that extended from my back property line at least a quarter mile to the east.  While I have never seen a tornado, this is the fourth microburst I have witnessed, the second since moving to Basehor.  Maybe I have lived in Micro-burst Alley all along?

I Like to Read - Manhunt

I recently finished the book Manhunt, a book about the 12 days following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  I often read history books, but rarely finish them.   Manhunt was much different.  It captured my interest from the first chapter and held it to the end.

The book is primarliy a historical chronicle of the events preceding Lincoln's assassination, the actual event, the death room where he lingered before dying, the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth and conspirators, and the eventual capture, death or arrest of each.  I was especially impressed by the level of detail provided in a book that reads as a novel.  Many of the conversations were not fabricated, but based on testimony of witnesses, be they doctors, cabinent secretaries, casual witnesses, investigators or the conspirators themselves.  These folks wrote everything down in amazing detail.

I was amazed at how the entire story was pieced together from hundreds of sources covering over 50 years.  The book is an amazing read whether you like history or not.  The story is compelling and written as a first hand account of this historic time.

I am Changing

As I get older, I sometime realize that my beliefs of my youth are no longer valid.  Being the adult that I am, I acknowledge that fact, swallow my pride and change what I believe.  Here are a few recent changes.

• I now believe the KC Royals will win the 2011 World Series
• I believe that Coach Calipari is the best college basketball coach in the game today
• I believe that President Obama has been a wonderful leader and I will vote for his reelection
• If Obama doesn't get a second term, Hillary would be okay
• I believe the KC Chiefs will win the 2012 Super Bowl
• I cannot wait until Obama care is in full effect so that I can get better quality health care
• I now believe that Global Warming is based on solid science and that it is man made
• I believe my taxes are too low and should be raised
• I believe our congress has been good stewards of the national treasure
• I believe that April Fools day can be a fun day