December 2007
You are currently browsing the articles from In The Vortex written in the month of December 2007.
As the sun sets here on the final hours of 2007 (only 6 more to go here in the Southern Plains) the news and articles around the Internet are buzzing about everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions. Let’s face it, we all know we almost never keep them. Except the one I made last year to stop dating so many hot supermodels. I did keep that one this year. I digress…
For 2008, I am not making any resolutions. It really doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do in years past. That’s the nice thing about a new year. It wipes out the old and gives a fresh start. 2007 is over and done. All of 2008 is ahead of you. That’s what is exciting! We have the power to make the changes we want!
You know what is wrong in your life and what you need to change. Why start the new year under tons of pressure from resolutions? Lose weight, stop smoking, be nicer, reduce debt, help out more, spend more time with family, make more money…HOLY COW! Is it any wonder people go out and get drunk on New Year’s Eve?
There is only one thing you need to do. Know you are powerful to make ANY change you want. Real changes take place gradually. This is known as the Law of Accumulation. Every single thing you do accumulates in one way or another. You didn’t get in debt, get overweight, or anything else overnight. You got their gradually. You worked at it. Now if you just realize you are powerful to make positive changes during 2008, you can make the changes you want. Cumulative and gradually and by this time next year either completed your goals or at least that much closer to them.
The New Year is an important time of the year if we use it right. Wipe the slate clean. The past is the past. You can’t change it no matter how much you dwell on it. Don’t make any BIG changes. Spend the first few days of the year making some reasonable plans to make the changes you want to achieve. Make small adjustments to your behavior that you can follow through all year. Not just tomorrow or next week. If you decide now that your are powerful and CAN make these changes, then 2008 will truly be the year of change for you. I believe in myself and all of you to do this!
Soon the air will warm and the signs of spring will arrive. The cold days will soon be replaced with that special early morning smell of a storm day brewing. Storm juice! Yes, the Gulf of Mexico will once again be open for business and that great conveyor belt of moisture will surge into the plains. We chasers will saddle up our mounts with our cameras and computers and radios and point them toward the dryline. Soon we will see those first puffy white cumulus clouds come to life. Yes, before we know it we will once again be pursuing that which does not wish to be caught. Condensed water vapor and swirling winds will drag us across the plains, hoping to catch that fleeting glimpse of beauty and power that only the skies can bring together in such a deceptively scenic, yet deadly combination.
Yes, we chasers will once again be there, capturing those fleeting moments forever in images for the world to see for themselves, that which those of us who are seemingly crazy enough to hunt down, are somehow allowed by mother nature to witness them in person time and again.
I sometimes wonder before the chase season just what the new year will bring. Will there be a drought with little storms? Will it be an incredibly active season? Will it stay out in the fields and not take lives and homes away, or will there be another Greensburg this year? I always hope for the best and not the latter. I always know there will be something awesome to see while storm chasing in the coming season. There always is.
Here is to you and yours for a Great 2008!
Written by David on December 31st, 2007 with 3 comments.
Read more articles on Extreme Weather and General Talk and Storm Chasing.
This month has been the worst month of the year in so many ways. The biggest was being sick for nearly 4 weeks, which had a domino affect on getting anything done, which put me even farther behind than I was on just about EVERYTHING. So if you emailed me something or whatever, and didn’t get a reply, it’s just that I am so far behind responding to stuff. I have been trying to get caught up on emails the last couple of days. I hope I didn’t miss anyone. I wasn’t ignoring anyone. The short winter days are depressing and it’s been colder than normal here lately.
I always like the day after Christmas. The New Year’s Holiday really hasn’t been that much of a holiday for me since my old days of partying have long since passed. So the day after Christmas for all intents and purposes is the last of “the holiday period” for me, when I can start getting back and focused on things. It’s really my own new year.
With that in mind, it’s time to renew focus and clear some projects off the board, and start preparing for the 2008 storm chase season, which begins officially for me March 1st (doesn’t it ever really end?). Just 2 months from now. I can’t wait! Santa brought me a new digital SLR camera, a Canon Rebel XTI. This is a major piece of chase equipment upgrade! I am very excited to get this as I can now start taking some very high resolution images that I can use for other things, like prints and calendars, that plain old video grabs just don’t work for, and neither did my old 5 megapixal point and shoot. It will also open up the doors for me for some good lightning pics. Now THIS I am excited about! I haven’t seriously shot stills since I sold my old Canon AE1 film camera years ago. I love the flexibility of digital. Hopefully with some learned skill and some luck, I will have some really cool images to share soon.
With that in mind, I absolutely have to get the rest of the website finished in the next two months. This has been delayed due to paying website projects, and paying jobs always come first. But my stuff has to be done before March 1st. I also recently picked up a new HP laptop to upgrade the older one. I haven’t decided, but the other one might stay in service in the chase vehicle as well. I am still trying to decide if I want to use the Windows Vista that came on the new one, or set it back to Windows XP. Thanks to my chase partner Graham also for the new scanner to upgrade one of the ones in the chase vehicle. Looking forward to getting that installed. We have an identical one to put in his vehicle was well. We try to standardize equipment across the vehicles where possible, so we are very comfortable with the equipment in either vehicle.
So, the theme for me is, clear out some projects (and quit taking on so many free ones), get this site finished, and get ready for chase season. One major thing I plan on doing over the next year is clear out sources of major stress in my life. It’s just something I need to do to stop burning out all the time, and just be happier in general. Part of that is working really hard to pay off some things I owe and get debt free. Compared to many people, I really don’t have all that much dept, but over the next 18 months I expect to be in a debt free position. That is a goal I can’t wait for!
I have a feeling this is going to be a great 2008!
Written by David on December 26th, 2007 with 4 comments.
Read more articles on General Site News and General Talk.
In my previous post, as some of you have learned, I am a supporter of Ron Paul for President in 2008.
On Sunday, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Ron Paul supporters launched a Tea Party of their own, raising just over $6 million dollars in a 24 hour period, and another half a million the day afterwards. Yes, that is not a typo, SIX MILLION DOLLARS in ONE DAY! While that is HUGE what is even more huge about it is that this was raised by every day folks like you and I who are restricted by federal law from donating any more than $2300 per person. This was an all out record for ANY presidential candidate in one day earnings. This was a spontaneous event not run or orchestrated by the official Ron Paul campaign in any way.
You have to step back for a moment and really realize what this means. Over 50 THOUSAND regular every day people, half of which were first time donors, gave that money for a message that rang true to them. People like myself, who are sick and tired of politics as usual in this country. They are sick of just about everything government these days, and they want big change, and they want it now. People like me, who either have never voted, or had stopped voting because they were disgusted with having to choose between the lessor of two evils. Sick of being told one thing, and then something else happens when the one they supported gets in office.
Ron Paul is a 10 term congressman from Texas who has CONSISTENTLY shown with his speeches and voting record to be unwaivering. Something that is indeed a very rare commodity in a politician these days. He is the only candidate with the consistent voting record showing that he respects the Constitution of the United States. Something everyone that takes office vows to uphold against all enemies, foreign AND domestic. Who else on the Presidential Candidates stage can show a past record of consistently doing that? They can’t!
It’s this genuineness and message of peace, prosperity and non-intervention in foreign affairs (as recommended by our forefathers) that rings so good with us every day folks. I first learned about Ron Paul when I saw an interview of him on YouTube, in which the media person doing the interview asked him what was his goal in this campaign (which I thought was a dumb question anyway, what else would the goal be?), and of course Congressman Paul said, “To win.” and the interviewer had the audacity to say “That’s not going to happen.”
Being someone that works in and with media myself, I was floored that he said that. It was also the catalyst to get me to go and learn about Ron Paul. It didn’t take me too many YouTube videos watching him, and visiting his website to see what he was about for me to become one of those people that finally had my apathy cured. I wanted to know more about this Ron Paul Revolution.
The biggest problem with Ron Paul, as Steve Miller mentioned in the comments in the previous post, is the unfair shake he is getting by the mainstream media. Despite not one but TWO single day “money bomb”, record breaking fund raising efforts, the media still wants to depict him and his followers as a fridge candidate with kooks following him. But then you see video after video on youtube of these meetup groups (which are getting larger and larger) and events like the Tea Party on Sunday in Boston and Austin and Santa Monica. These are large groups of everyday people. Many of which have NEVER cared about politics or voted before in their life. They are getting bigger and bigger every day. The media would have you believe their are just a few people who know how to manipulate the internet that are supporting Ron Paul. Watch those videos and tell me what you think?
I digress though. As I was saying, the biggest problem has been the media’s treatment of him as a fringe candidate with no support, and give him very little air time. There are still MANY, MANY people who don’t know the first thing about Ron Paul. Many people, when they really learn what he stand for can’t help but get behind him. Just to summarize:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.
While this is primarily my storm chasing blog, and a place to get to know me a little better, I wanted to take an opportunity to introduce to my readers to someone running for President that actually is HONEST and has INTEGRITY, and represents something we can all get behind, FREEDOM.
I simply ask that you do a little research on the man before making your mind up about him. You can start at http://ronpaul2008.com. There is also a good video that is about an hour long from a Google interview that gives you a good introduction here. Then seach YouTube for videos on Ron Paul and watch some more of those. This was how I came to know about him, and I am now firmly a supporter of the Ron Paul REVOLUTION!
Written by David on December 18th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on General Talk.
Three weeks ago this past Sunday I came down with something. I am not sure exactly what it is. It’s sort of a cold, sort of the flu but not really full blown of either. I mean, it has some of the symptoms, but not all at the same time.
Kinda started with a bad headache and congestion in my head, then it was sort of an achy feeling all over, then later it moved down in to my lungs with lots of nasty coughing. All the while I just generally felt like crap and had no energy and a difficult time sleeping well. Then it moved from my lungs to my throat. I haven’t had a normal voice for over a week, and a couple of days there I couldn’t talk. Also was like having a hot charcoal in my throat all the time, with some swelling. Finally Friday that started to subside, and now I am back with the coughing (although not near as bad as before) and I still don’t have a normal voice back.
I don’t know what this is, but I am sick of being sick, and it needs to go. I am so far behind on stuff I was making good progress on. I have been able to get little done in the way of work, especially since Thanksgiving.
Thankfully today, even though I couldn’t sleep all night and ended up sleeping much of today, at least during the night I had some more energy and got a few things taken care of. Hopefully this trend will continue through tomorrow and I can get back to work on a paid project I should have already been done with. I know the client has been very patient, but it’s taking way too long to get it finished for him.
I hope this is all of the being sick for this winter!
Written by David on December 3rd, 2007 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on General Talk.
