Shotgun Thoughts ('Cause They're All Spread Out, Baby)

Thoughts from my twisted mind on all that's going on in the world the last few days...

• Tornadoes - It's still hard to put into perspective what April 27th's tornadoes really did. I haven't really seen the damage, other than in pictures. I think it's safe to say that at least in Alabama, it will go down as a worse day than 4/3/74. As I type the number of missing in Tuscaloosa is STILL over 500. That can't be good, folks. I've read where people have said that the death toll likely has to get higher before the cleanup is all said and done. And that's just in one town. I have friends from Cordova... it's gone. Hackelburg? Gone. Phil Campbell. Tanner. Harvest. Dekalb County. That doesn't even address what happened even closer to where I live, where Trenton, Ringgold, and Apison were so devastated. I wish I could put some great speech to words and try to eloquently describe how I feel, but I just can't. Survivor's guilt? I think I have some of that.
•  Bin Laden - I don't know if he deserves my attention. I probably shouldn't even waste my time typing words that mention him. I guess something has to be said though. Look, I struggle with my Christianity, I admit that. I certainly believe in God, but also have a very hard time serving Him and glorifying Him as I should be doing. Does it make Him sad for people like me (and many of us) to celebrate the death of a man? I don't know, pals. I hope He understands us on this one, though. While I don't want any man to have to suffer the curse of an eternity in hell, it's hard to argue that Bin Laden doesn't deserve it. I am thankful that after ten years of eluding us, that he finally got a small measure of the justice he so much deserved. I'll also gladly admit that a part of me wishes he could have been brought back alive and drug through the streets of Manhattan while people point, laughed, kicked, spit on, and generally did whatever else they felt like doing to the pathetic SOB. But again, like I said... I'm not the best person in the world. Lord, please forgive me.
• Myrtle Beach, SC - Finally, I wanted to mention being here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as I type this. I was conflicted over this. My parents called me about two weeks ago and, sort of "out of the blue", asked if I wanted to go with them on this trip. I agreed. Now look, I love my family to death. I really do. But, we have a lot of differences. At 28, it's hard to go on a family vacation with your parents and 23 year old brother. Four grown adults, even in a three bedroom condo, just isn't a good recipe for harmony. A few months ago I was engaged and had a completely different dynamic working with my family, and my fiancee would have been with me on a trip like this. That would have made things a little easier. Seeing a bunch of happy couples walking around, and you still trying to move on from the last relationship, is not an easy thing to do. Plus I've got this terrible guilt of being here, while others are back in Alabama or Tennessee or Georgia, helping with the tornado cleanup. It would have been foolish to turn down this trip and lose money on canceled reservations... but it still feels so wrong. I will have to do SOMETHING when I get back to Chattanooga. I am a very fortunate person, and do want to help those that can't say the same.

I'll leave with this picture. As Jimmy Buffett might say... "the weather is here, I wish you were beautiful"...

The Longest Day

I have heard a lot about April 3, 1974, during my lifetime. My dad lived through that day, and being a weather geek himself, always used to tell me about how it wiped Guin, Alabama, and Xenia, Ohio, "off the map". It was a day that spawned several F5 tornadoes across the country. They called it a "generational" tornado event. Well, apparently, "generational" is equal to about forty years.

What we all witnessed on Wednesday is not normal. Thankfully, it is NOT something that we have to get used to (I don't think). Atmospheric conditions made Wednesday the absolutely perfect day for what we saw. Forecasters knew it was going to happen days in advance. I first heard about the forecast on Saturday. Even though the storms eventually took hundreds of lives, if not for the advance warnings we had, I'm sure it could have been higher.

Here in Hamilton County, we were pretty fortunate - for the most part. The folks in Apison wouldn't agree. The extreme southeastern portion of the county was hit by an EF-4. At work today, my coworkers went out to photograph the devastation. What the pictures show, they said, is nowhere near an accurate description of the true story. If you've seen the images of Tuscaloosa... then you know what Apison looks like, albeit on a much smaller schedule. There were houses in the pictures that are just completely... gone. A pickup truck was sitting beside a railroad track, its wheels nowhere in sight and no good explanation for where it came from. Just unbelievable destruction.

My heart goes out to all the people affected by this, and there are many. I love Tuscaloosa - anybody reading this probably knows that. While I never made it to the University, I still feel a connection to that city. To know that it was hit by what may soon be declared as THE most devastating tornado to EVER hit the US... that's just hard to fathom. It's a cruel reality of how bad the day was. It's not something that those of us who lived through it will soon forget. I just read a book a few months ago, entitled F5, that was about April 3 and the damage it brought on Limestone County, AL (Athens). I wouldn't be surprised if I'll soon be reading the sequel, unfortunately set in Tuscaloosa County.

I'll leave you with this image. This is satellite photography that you can actually see tornado tracks on. You can see them from space! Absolutely the most efficient tools of destruction the earth has ever seen.

Tornado tracks across central Alabama - http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/severe-storms-20110429.html

New York City Dreamin'... Doesn't Have the Same Ring

I haven't written a blog post in months. This will probably seem like a crazy post to come back to. But oh well, my life has been a little topsy-turvy lately anyway. This post is about a dream that I had last night. I'm used to having crazy dreams, but this one struck me as different for some reason.

The setting is New York City, and it's apparently September 11, 2001. Note that date... I'm sure you already have. I'm on the streets of Lower Manhattan, suspiciously close to the World Trade Center towers. I think it starts with me, early in the morning, hanging around outside a coffee shop. I see people going to work, with their Starbucks in hand. Then I wander into a subway, and there is the first peculiarity - I see former WCW/WWE wrestler Dean Malenko, the "Man of 1,000 Holds". Yeah... I haven't thought about Dean Malenko in yeeeeears. So that would be weird enough. I think I may have asked Dean something about when he'll resume his wrestling career. Either way, I know that we greeted each other like old friends.

Next, I am in some kind of store, looking at, I believe, touristy-type merchandise. The store owner seeme to be this hippie woman, with red hair in braids, but she was very friendly. I walk back outside, and that's when I look up to see one of the two planes (I'm not sure which one) striking one of the World Trade Center towers. It seems like it may have been the second plane, but oddly, I had not even reacted to the first one if I knew it had hit. Either way, I do remember feeling very shaken by this (duh).

I'm not sure what happened in between, but next I am listening to a man giving a speech outside the store I mentioned above. It was apparently about terrorism and what our response should be to this tragedy. That's when I look up, and see that the building is starting to collapse. Naturally, I'm terrified. I duck into the store again, trying to outrun the now wave of smoke and debris making it's way from the tower down the street in front of me. It grows dark as night in the store and people are screaming. All of a sudden, instead of being in the store, I'm in some sort of SUV with my now ex-fiance, Amanda. We are trying to outrun the still-charging cloud, but there's only one problem... the SUV will apparently only go in reverse. I'm looking out the back window as we continue down a hill, and I see a park with a lake. For some reason... we apparently cannot turn OR stop the vehicle either. Sure enough, we continue on, and crash into the middle of said lake.

I think this is where the dream ends, sort of anti-climatically. If there was more, it was the kind of situation where I had forgotten it by the time I woke up. That always frustrates me actually. I have a strange dream in the middle of the night, wake up, fall back asleep, and then have ANOTHER dream that causes me to forget much of the first one. The dream I described here was striking enough that I woke up in the middle of the night and almost wrote down these thoughts. But, it was also important enough that I am able to remember details twelve hours later (though probably not all details). It involved such an important event in our lives, that I think it really struck a nerve.

Very strange, and not a type of dream I would like to have again, any time soon.

The Things Men Have to Do...

So look, I know we have all been in this position and it's not really anything new, or anything that you haven't heard before. If you have been in a relationship you know that you have to inevitably change certain habits or ways of doing things to make the significant other happy. My current relationship with my Lovely Girlfriend is no exception. But as I was shopping in Bi-Lo today for a few groceries, I think it finally hit home just how much a woman can influence your buying habits.

First, let's go back to yesterday. We are in Walmart together, and I mention that I need to pick up some deodorant. No sweat, huh?... Ok, sorry, I know that was just bad. Anyway. I go straight to my usual antiperspirant/deodorant. As I'm grabbing it off the shelf, the critique begins. Now understand, I'm alright with some constructive criticism. If she doesn't like a certain smell, I don't care to change. She is a person that is very aware of things in the news, and proceeded to remind me of how certain deodorants contain aluminum, which has been proven to cause breast cancer. Don't laugh, I had a great uncle that died of breast cancer. With that information, I successfully found a stick that does not contain aluminum (FYI: apparently it's the combo of antiperspirant/deodorant that contains aluminum). Of course, this was not until after a Soddy-Daisy NASCAR tshirt/jort wearin', mullet sportin' red laughed at me for her suggesting I try a stick that smells like "lavender". No harm though.

Back to today. I'm shopping for a few groceries, browsing through the produce section trying to find any fruits or vegetables I might actually consume. Whoa. That's not something I used to do. I turn the corner to find a freezer bunker full of packaged chicken. It was then that I finally caught myself, as I looked at a bag of frozen grilled chicken patties, thinking how many preservatives each piece of meat contained... "Dude, she's changed you." What I would have normally considered to be a fine microwavable meal, I pass up, searching for something a bit more natural that I don't have to nuke (something else she doesn't like to do).

Like I said, nothing earth-shattering here. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all. It's nice to have somebody that is looking for ways to live a little healthier and will influence you to do the same. Lord knows most of us guys wouldn't do it on our own. It's a change for the better.

Now, excuse me while I go to my 3:15 hair appointment, something I avoided like the plague until about eight months ago when we started dating.

SERUG and Charlotte

Due to what was, actually, an unfortunate series of circumstances, I find myself in Charlotte, NC, as I write this blog post. What am I doing here? Well, SERUG is not a German pronunciation of something you'd find on the living room floor. It's the ESRI Southeast Regional User Group Conference. In the GIS world, it's one step below going to San Diego for the national conference. And while Charlotte isn't quite San Diego, I had never been here before this week. So not only was I anxious to attend the conference and get my learn on, but I was also excited (as a good geographer would be) about seeing some place new.

I actually made the drive over from Chattanooga on Sunday. Let me tell you... a roughly 300 mile drive has never taken so long. Seven hours after I left, I managed to make it to the Queen City. That's what happens when the interstate you planned to take is shut down because our esteemed president decided to visit Asheville (which I was driving through since my GPS told me that would be the fastest route). As if I needed another reason to not like the guy. I just happened to take a detour that wound up down about three mountains. Did I mention that the brakes on my car were already starting to go? Oh well. I did get some nice views, as the weather was beautiful.

Charlotte itself is, from what I've seen, pretty nice. Downtown there are several tree-lined streets. The one thing I keep noticing is, everything seems very clean. Now, I don't mean to make it sound like Chattanooga is filthy, but... spend some time in the heart of downtown 'Nooga, and you'll notice it's not the cleanest town in the world. Charlotte is trash-free and (thankfully) beggar free. Those are good qualities. As far as entertainment, the Panthers' stadium looks nice. The Bobcats are actually playing a playoff basketball game here tonight, but I assume it's sold out. There are a lot of restaurants, as you might expect. My dining choice tonight (Monday) was a place called "Fujo Asian Bistro". I ordered a sumo steak and had a desert of cheesecake. Wasn't the best I've ever had of either one, but they were alright. I'm sure there are some better culinary choices.

Now, on to the conference. After Day 1, I feel there is one central theme of what's happening in GIS. Well, two. First, ESRI is dead-set on beating into our heads that ArcGIS 10 will be the single greatest piece of software in the history of mankind. Maybe, but let's wait and see on that. It sounds like 10 will have tools that we use every day - for instance, the toolbox itself - a lot better integrated into the working environment. It sounds good. But I'm a creature of habit, so part of me fears that the changes they make will be just for change sake and will just serve to frustrate me (and others). The guys that I heard speak from ESRI-Charlotte seemed pretty knowledgeable, however. One even invited all of us to follow him on Twitter: @DaleLoberger. Appeared to be a nice guy. Follow him, I did.

The other theme of today's presentations was the ultimate goal to tie what we GIS professionals do in ArcMap or other applications, to the web itself. We saw several websites where local governments have put a gluttony of data out there for the public to digest if they so desire. I was particularly impressed with the City of Greenville, SC. While they DO offer a lot of data to the public on their (somewhat clunky) public GIS site, it's what they do behind the scenes that was way cooler. Their GIS department put together a program used by emergency management officials that allow them to see weather stations around the region, track the movement of fire trucks, see police incident reports - all in real-time, as they happen, and put into an easy to comprehend map layout. It's something that I can see every local emergency management organization eventually latching onto.

So that sort of wraps up the first day of my GIS odyssey. The conference continues until Wednesday. If anything else of note happens, I'll be sure to blog about it.

Of course, me saying that is ironic, since my previous post was Part 1 of what was supposed to be a two-part series. Obviously, I never wrote Part 2. Let me sum it up here: we had a delightful breakfast with an entertaining Australian couple, we attended an Easter service at a mega-church, we ate some good food, and we drove home. If you need more details, just ask.

And oh yeah, more Charlotte pictures can be found in my Picasa album.

Asheville, NC... Part 1

Last weekend, April 3 and 4, my lovely girlfriend and I decided to make the four hour drive to Asheville, NC. We have season passes to the Biltmore Estate and wanted to visit it (for the second time). We also wanted to explore downtown Asheville, since we had heard good things about it but didn't have the opportunity to get down there the last time we went to the Biltmore.

We got into Asheville about 11 on Saturday and quickly got into the Estate. If you haven't been there, once you go into the "Estate" you have to actually travel several miles down the "driveway" to reach the actual house. Once there, the house is... well, beyond words. It is the single largest private residence ever built in the U.S. There are four floors in the house, as well as a basement that is as large as the entire house. The total square footage is over 175,000. In other words... this place is really freakin' big. This picture at left is from our first trip there back in November.

Being season pass holders, we were able to immediately get into the house, for "free". Unfortunately there are no cameras allowed inside the house, so I can't show you just how awesome it really is. George Vanderbilt built the estate in the late 1800s. Today it is still owned by his 86 year old grandson. If you aren't familiar with the estate I recommend you read up on it here.

After leaving the house we drove another few miles across the estate to its newest addition, titled "Antler Hill Village". It was built between the estate's winery and working farm. We were able to do free wine tasting before proceeding down the hill to the actual village. Here you can tour the winery, or several shops and eateries. From there, a short walk up another hill leads to the old farm area. It was here the estate's horses were kept. Today you can view the original barn, see a real blacksmith performing demonstrations, visit a petting zoo, etc. We had a great time, and I would recommend to anyone, but especially families.

Before leaving we checked prices at the Biltmore Hotel. With prices starting at over $300 per night (!) we decided it was just a bit out of our price range.

Leaving the estate we decided to try out downtown Asheville. First, let me say that if you ever get to Asheville and need some info on the area, check out the visitor center. It was extremely modern (including free wifi) and gave us a lot of ideas on places to stay. In fact, it led us to the awesome bed and breakfast we eventually stayed for the night. Neither Amanda nor I had ever stayed in a B&B, so we really didn't no what to expect. And most are pretty pricey. We were lucky to be checking into the Wright Inn about 3:00 in the afternoon, and with only one room left, the owner gave us a reduced rate. It turned out to be a price that was comparable to most boring, "pillbox" hotels. I will say that after staying in an awesome old house like this, I never want to stay in a conventional hotel again.

After checking in we headed to downtown Asheville. Living in Chattanooga, I thought our downtown area was pretty cool. While Asheville is smaller than 'Nooga, the central business district has a lot more to choose from when it comes to dining options. There are a ton of local restaurants. Amanda was in the mood for Mediterranean food. I was apprehensive at first, but we eventually decided on a place called the Jerusalem Garden Cafe. I was impressed. My food wasn't exactly 100% Mediterranean - I had a crab-covered filet with smashed potatoes - but I loved the atmosphere (which included belly dancing!). Amanda loved it as well. I think we concluded that it was certainly worth 4 stars out of 5.

So after an exciting first day in Asheville we were pretty tired. We headed back to our incredibly comfortable room and crashed for the night. We had a great night of sleep and woke up on Easter Sunday ready for a great second day, of which I'll write about soon.

If you're interested in seeing my entire photo album of Day 1, check out my photo sets on either Flickr or Facebook.

A Tradition Unlike Any Other

Well it's spring once again. How do I know it? It doesn't matter what the temperature is. It doesn't matter that it's been in the high 80s earlier in the week, or that it will only be in the 50s late this week. Blooms on the Dogwoods and Bradford Pears could happen in mid-March, but it still wouldn't mean it's spring. Nope... the beginning of spring, for me, is when I first hear that legendary Dave Loggins instrumental tune simply entitled "Augusta". The Masters golf tournament, played every year in early April, signals the turn of the calendar from the cold winter months to the rebirth and renewal of the spring season.

Alright, now that I've waxed poetic for a few moments... yeah, it's time for the 2010 Masters. I'm excited. I absolutely love this golf tournament. Simply put, Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Period. If you disagree, you must have a bias against the game of golf. The lush green grass set against the vibrant reds, pinks, and whites of the azaleas are just visually stunning. The music is classic, calming, optimistic even. And of course, the golf is some of the best that you'll watch. I haven't been too happy with the winners the last few years, but regardless, it has made for some exciting viewing. Last year's final round dramatics where Kenny Perry let the Green Jacket slip through his hands was ultimately fun to watch, but so heartbreaking at the same time.

So now the big storyline this year, as it is almost ever year, is Tiger Woods. He's returning from therapy for his "sexual addiction" and promiscuity. His wife has apparently left him, and Tiger is trying to pick up the pieces from both his marriage and his career (especially his sponsorships). He hasn't played since November. Nobody knows how the crowd will respond to them, though most assume it will be positive. Still, there could be demons haunting him when he takes to the first tee tomorrow.

Honestly, I was a big fan of Tiger. I liked his competitiveness. I'm not an "underdog" kind of guy. I liked seeing him when tournaments, and by large margins. He didn't seem like the nicest guy in the world, but hey, I don't know him personally. All he has to do is entertain me when he's on TV. Now, was I mad at him for what he did? Yes. Cheating on your spouse is something the lowest of people do. Forgiveness does not and should not come easy. I wish Tiger hadn't done it, both for himself, his wife Elin, and myself, so I wouldn't feel so bad for still liking him. But like him I do. I want to see him win. I want to see him dominate. Then, I want him to cry at the press conference and show actual emotion while again begging his fans, and his family, for forgiveness.

That being said, my official prediction for the 2010 Masters Champion? Ernie Els. No specific reason why, but it seems like he deserves. My alternate pick is Ian Poulter. I wouldn't be happy, but it could happen. I will say Tiger finishes in the Top 10.