¿Valentines Day?

I use to be a hopeless romantic. I wrote this poem and thought I would wait to give it to the girl of my dreams....as of 02/14/2010 I decided what's the point in waiting.

My Valentine
Through all these years I’m still amazed
I look to you on those dark days.
To see that smile upon your face,
And hope and wish for your embrace.

When things go bad, when life goes wrong,
I think of you, and now I'm strong.
When dust kicks up and rains pour down.
I can't but smile, where once I frowned.

I can't but laugh, where once I cried.
I can't give up, I only try.
I have in me a hope of life,
Of life with you, my one true bride.

My thoughts they turn me back in time,
Of actions made, of words sublime,
Of things I wished that I had said.
Of happy times, a good life led.

The future lies mid hopes and dreams,
Of life with you, my eyes now gleam.
Of hope that maybe you'll be mine,
In life and death, my valentine.

What does a snow storm cost?

What do you think a snow storm should cost? If you wanted to order one. Lets say you wanted to order one snowstorm of about 30". Does $450 million sound about right? Personally I think that's a little excessive for 30" but that's just a small ballpark figure looking up information for the Virgina-DC area. Virginia's already gone through its $79 million snow-removal budget plus an additional $25. DC quickly burned through its $6 million and the Federal Government has been forced to close for 3.5 days as of today at an estimated cost of over $100 million per day in lost productivity. I can't even begin to estimate all the cost to state and local governments, the lost productivity in dozens of industries, and the individual cost for an increase in accidents, power outages, downed power lines, weather worn roads, etc. I'm going to leave that up to my economist friends like Rich to figure out. All I know is I get three plus days of snow white bliss to enjoy while the world falls apart around me. This is all rather fun coming from a state where this much snow in a single storm is a lot, but not unheard of, and certainly not enough to shut everything down. Total cost for this snowstorm, probably a billion dollars once it's all said and done. But don't worry lets just say that we end up with 50" of snow, that's only $20 million per inch. I'm guessing we should look to Utah, Colorado, Alaska, New York and a few of those other states that deal with this on a regular basis. I'm guessing their cost for snowstorms per inch is a lot less.

Welcome to the east coast.



Oh and the best part during all of this, President Obama commissioned a new federal office to study Global Warming...maybe they should change the name to something less specific like "Climate Change." Then record breaking winter snowstorms won't make "global temperatures rise" sound questionable. Just a thought.

References:
http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=11949683
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/02/federal_government_closed_on_m_1.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/09/new-federal-office-would-study-global-warming/

30 Year Record?

The weather shows keep touting this as the biggest storm in 30 years. Is it? Perhaps. I am surprised by how much snow has managed to fall in the DC area. I didn't think this was possible, but it is and I'm loving it. The best part is the entertainment value I get from the people who all panic at the first mention of being stuck in their homes for a weekend. What happens? The grocery stores sell out of toilet paper, eggs, milk, and meat...seriously? Have you never gone 3-4 days without shopping for milk and eggs? You have. Or Thursday night when Costco was selling out of these things and the line to check out extended to the meat section, yes across the entire length of the store; at least that is what a friend who was there buying lots of food told me. Me, I'll be content without any severe panicking and with the food that already is in my cupboards and fridge.

Historic Multi-Blogging

Frankfurt Christmas Markets - Dec. 2009:
Since moving away from home in 2001 Christmas always sneaks up on me and I never feel like I'm given the chance to properly prepare for the holiday season. I've spent too much time with school or work to get out and see all of the Christmas prep which brings in the Christmas season. Frankfurt is incredible about making sure everybody experiences all the fluff leading up to Christmas regardless of how busy you are. They have their Christmas Markets which involve a carnival-like atmosphere filled with booths along the main market street serving all sorts of bratwurst, gluhwein, chocolate, candy, and traditional German Christmas ornaments. It was awesome. I've never felt so much in the spirit of Christmas as I did this year.

Obamanologues - Sept. 2009:
A series of monologues written to reflect the changing social perceptions of people in the hindsight of Obama's election to the U.S. Presidency. My initial thought was it would be skewed to a liberal ideology and by the third monologue I was convinced the rest of my evening would result in ideological badgering. I was surprised, there ended up being a good mix of liberal, conservative, and middle-of-the-road common sense monologues about what people expect. If you get the chance to go, do it. It was entertaining, informative, and the talent of many of the performers left me astounded and glad I took the time and paid the money to see. http://www.obamanologues.com/about.html