RaNDom Musing #18 (16 Sep 2011): Dear Scranton Series - 46 Degrees on a September Morning?!

[So - I woke up this morning at around 0630.  I'm ready to hobble down the stairs in my cast and get to the gym.  Thus far, I've been rolling out the house in a t-shirt and workout  shorts...until today, when I stepped outside and the unthinkable happened...]

 Dear Scranton,

The temperature is 46 degrees at 7 on a September morning...why?!

Signed,
A Tropical Bird

RaNDom Musing #17 (circa Aug 2011): Introducing the Dear Scranton Series

Many of you may know that I've had to move to Scranton recently for work.  There are a few things that have caused me to write "open letters" to the city of Scranton since I've been here.

Some of those things include:

• Inquiries about the lack on lines in non-side roads that facilitate two-way traffic;
• Inquiries about why said unlined two-way roads have cars parked on them in directions opposite of the direction of travel (believe me, no lines and mis-parked cars have made me doubt if I should even be on a road);
• and my FAVORITE - Negotiations about acceptable weather.

Stay tuned for more in the Dear Scranton Series of my RaNDom Musings!!

RaNDom Musing #16 (Sep 2011): How do you define homesickness?

Is a wanderer's version of homesickness the things they miss from places they've been?

I don't get homesick, but I often find myself yearning for something of the places I've visited.

Hmmm.

{mis}Adventure #12 (Jun 2011): Hold Your [Wild] Horses!

This is a fairly short {mis}Adventure. 

As you all know, I've been "living" in Pennsylvania for the past month and a half now.  My daily routine starts with a 0600 workout followed by an 8-hour day.  The morning / rush-hour traffic here is equivalent to non-peak hours in DC and really deserves to be scoffed at for even being referred to as traffic.

So, you can imangine my surprise when at about 0545 in the morning the highway was at a stand still - now mind you, this is NOT typically a "trafficky" time period by PA standards.  I couldn't, for the life of me figure out why the heck I was sitting there at this hour!  

WTHk?! 

I turned on the radio to get some more insight on the goings-on and...I kid you not, the radio stations were advising commuters not to honk their horns as the State Police were attempting to wrangle a few wild horses that were impeding traffic on I-81!!

Don't beileve me?!  I submit the following photographic evidence:

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. 

Some how, some way, I'm always present for the unlikeliest of situations!

While I was sitting there waiting for traffic to creep past the point of the back-up, I found myself getting agitated. Then I talked myself down.  Why was I so worked up?  Really and truly I was only headed to the gym.  I had no hard timeline to meet and no reason to rush.

For the first time in the month plus that I'd been making that drive  I noticed the sun ascending over the treetops in the distance.  I appreciated the colors of the sky.  I lowered my windows and took in the scents of the woodline that framed the interstate (not something that you often find on a typical DC commute). 

With that, I got the message loud and clear that was being broadcasted from above.*

{Cloud}  Sometimes life throws you into trafficky situations...

SILVER LINING ...take the hint: Hold Your Horses, and capitalize on the opportunity to reflect and appreciate.

______________

* God has a sense of humor and he made his mark by sending a trinity of horses to deliver the message.  Yep, there were three of 'em!

RaNDom Musing # 15:

REMOVED -- Entry kept for consistency of blog numbering!

{mis}Adventure #11 (May 2011): I'm Not in Kansas...but there are tornadoes here!

Last summer I survived a Hurricane.  And last night?  Last night I maybe-possibly-likely-probably survived a tornado.  Well, if the twister didn’t actually hit my location – I was as ready for it as I could be in my extended-stay hotel suite room place.

So there I am, just got back from a self-motivated crossfit work out, ready to shower and relax at my new hotel home.   I turn on the TV for dinner and news and all I can see on the local channels are these Tornado Watch broadcasts with the weatherman repeatedly saying: "If you are in the area I just mentioned, please take cover now". 

WTH?!

Tornadoes in Pennsylvania?  Yes.  Actually, four touched down on Monday (one F-0, two F-1 and one F-2).  

Great.  

What am I supposed to do in case of a tornado again?  Something about the basement or an inner-most room away from the South and West walls.  Thank goodness for Android apps.  I pulled out the compass app and google searched tornado safety to begin to prepare myself.

I also headed to the front desk to inquire about their plan.  Let me tell ya, they were no where near as prepared for ANY kind of emergency as that Resort in St. Maarten with the hurricane last year.  The kid at the counter was like, yeah – I heard one tornado was sighted, but that’s 45 minutes from here.  Meanwhile i'm thinking...

Yo!  Son, do you know how quickly a tornado can travel?!  *good grief*

Shaking my head – I resigned myself to the fact that my survival was in my own hands.  *sigh*  I looked outside and it had gotten VERY dark, VERY quickly.  I prepared my tornado survival space and hunkered down.

Because I’m actually kinda nervous, I send my parents a text & post to fB hoping for some company and comic relief.  Mission accomplished – hilarity ensues. 

Examine the evidence:

[Text message between my Mom and I]

Me: I’m staying at the Suites 504 N. Blah Blah Road, Harrisburg, PA.  Phone 717.###.7800.  A tornado was reported to have touched down close by.

Mom: Are you okay? Any more storms predicted? May God bless you and keep you safe.  Love, Mummy

Me: I’m in my hotel room, in the bathroom, under a table, wrapped in a blanket

Mom: Your room is on the 5^th floor?  Is there not a basement in the hotel?

Me: My room is on the first floor, 126.  504 is the hotel building number

Me: No basement, no true interior rooms

Mom: Okay, be safe and continue to pray

Me: Yes, ma’am

(~1.5 hours later)

Me: I’m in the clear.  Keep the address & room # - this is where I’ll be living for the next couple of months while I’m in PA

Mom: Is this the Suites?  The room is now 126 instead of 504? 

<Oh, Mom! *smh*>

And facebook…

So we're still wating on the confirmed reports of the tornadoes...but if you're interested - here's a pic of my Hotel Bathroom Tornado Fort (with quick egress to bathtub):

{CLOUD} Life sometimes presents storms, okay TORNADOES, in the most unexpected of places...

SILVER LINING: ...just build yourself a fort, say a little prayer and you can weather any storm.

RaNDom Musing #14 (Mar 2011): Power Rangers vs. Voltron

So....I was talking about Voltron to my Soldiers last week.

They looked at me like I was crazy. Why?!  Because they'd never heard of it!

WTH?!

I was trying to explain that Power Rangers was a just horrible knock off of the awesomeness that was Voltron - except they were both made by the same place, Saban.

I submit the following: Can something be a knock off if it's produced by the same place as the original....?