Archive for the 'Weather' Category

The Electric Pen

Published at April 23, 2008 in Weather. 0 Comments

I’m on to you, Xcel Energy. Something is amiss with the power lines in my neighborhood. As an estimate, the power goes out about 12+ times a year in my house. And I’m not talking about little reset-the-clocks power blips. Although those are frequent as well, and I have given up setting the clocks on the stove and coffee maker.

No no, Xcel Energy. These are full on out-for-a-couple-hours power outages. But the human mind is faulty. Like that unicorn that caused the last power outage? That might not be totally accurate. And so, I’m keeping a log.

You’ve forced me to do it, Xcel Energy. I’ve taken up an old fashioned pen, since my modern electronic computer won’t work without your precious power juice. I have also acquired lined paper, which is bound by metal and is not fed into an electric printing machine. I’ve put pen to paper, and I’m keeping track of your major annoyances.

This is in ink, Xcel Energy! And not the erasable kind. I’m not fooling with any sort of pencil/graphite dispenser here. This is permanent and personal.

So here we are, Xcel Energy. Me with mounting proof and you with no way to defend against the record keeping methods of old. So far? One power outage. According to the log, thats one power outage every three days! While that trend may not hold, I’m ready in the case that it does.

And that call that comes in as soon as the power goes out, Xcel Energy? That’s me. And every phone call is another entry in the log. Pray I don’t go over my minutes.

[Photo by J.Grillo]

Should we talk about the weather?

Published at April 2, 2008 in Minnesota and Weather. 1 Comment

I’m coming into this a few days after the fact, but a ton (not literally) of snow fell on the Twin Cities as a going away present from our friend March. This comes as a shock to the system due to the 50 degree days preceding this fluffy white precipitation. The snow fell all day long Monday, and it was all anybody talked about. And that’s fine.

Why is that fine? Because sometimes I don’t need to have a meaningful and important conversation with you. The weather is right there in front of us. It is a simple and shared experience. We can very easily exchange a few words on the subject. My mind, which has been working hard all day, doesn’t need to find a witty comment on it. “Man, it’s still snowing,” is all I want to say.

The weather is common to all of us. Granted, colors are a shared experience too. But unless there is a Hypercolor shirt nearby, colors don’t generally change. The weather does, and it fascinates us.

If it’s simple to talk about and still fascinates us, then for the love of taking a mental break, let us talk about it! Sure, we’ve talked about the weather before. But there is snow on the ground all of a sudden!

Bring up the temperature, if you should wear a coat, if you left your gloves at home, or how you just washed your car. We’re not working on rockets. We’re just relating. It’s nice once and a while.

[Photo credit: Chuck]