This Miller thing is getting more ridiculous...

But the concept of Miss Run Amok is hysterical. Nice choice of cast, too.

The landscape is shifting. Becoming way more convoluted [if that's possible].

What seemed initially to be the NYT's 'circling-the-wagons' to support Miller is dissolving for more reasons than one into becoming a 'zebra cut out of the herd by hyena pack' scenario. One wonders whether her stripes are natural or applied.

Interesting weekend for text, this being just one of the more cut-to-the-chase examples of the fallout.

Me? I'd just like to know the truth. You know, just simple stuff. Problem is, even being an analyst by previous profession, I'm going to need at least one blackboard to track the players like a flowchart....

Looks like it's safe to venture out to work

Smart ass... safe or not I'd have to go in due to the nature of the job.

Birds are back to singing, so it's going to be fine.

But, looks like we're on the way out of the woods...

Temperature has dropped like a rock - it's 61 degrees and still falling.

Nice, I like the cooler weather. That's what's attractive about where I live... we see a season change, leaves fall off most of the trees.

Anyway, I say a cold front is a fair trade for a long distance pass by a Cat 3...

Graphic courtesy of NEXRAD radar via wunderground.com.

A not-so-typical Monday morning

Cool image, isn't it?

Well, if you're on the skirt of it, it is. Been there enough to know it sux to be 'in the zone.'

The 'clean' cut between storm and no storm on the left is where the front is located.

From what I heard this morning listening to 93.3 WFLZ, the Keys got/were getting hammered...

Whoa, like that was a surprise. My understanding is that people have been calling 911.

Taking your life into your own hands is one thing, it's a decision that you make. Calling 911 brings other's lives into your decision.

But then I watched Mike Seidel of the Weather Channel on Duval Street... and it has less damage there than I would have expected. Wonder how the old victorian houses faired. Lovely place.

Graphic courtesy of NEXRAD radar via wunderground.com.

Yeah, we could use the rain, but geez...........

Per the 8:01 report of the Weather Channel: "The outer rain bands are moving across the Keys and into southwest Florida. Some of the squalls contain waterspouts or tornadoes. In general, the arrival of the rain bands signals the beginning of a steady deterioration in weather conditions for south Florida from here on out. Also heavy rain is falling along a frontal boundary stalled over central Florida."

Yes, Martha, it is currently stalled in my front pasture.

Graphic courtesy of NEXRAD radar via wunderground.com.

We could all use a break - nothing past Alpha, 'k?

Five weeks ago I decided to quit smoking. On a whim actually... I was out of cigarettes, had a cold and smoking made me cough - so it was relatively easy.

Come to find out later that on that same day, one of my compatriots at work decided to give notice, which was one week before another gave notice... Now the hurricane season refuses to roll over early.

Piffle.

Hurricanes in general - Wilma in particular

I live in Florida. My property is sided on the west and backs up on wetlands - hence the 'swamp' descriptive.

I was born here - I'm one of those rare 'natives' who moved away and went to see the world. Six years ago I came back to within 50 miles of where I was born. Now I might not have come back had my sister not moved down. Outside of cousins, family-wise, we are all we have left - so I came home.

I woke up on Thursday to the Tampa-based radio station I use for an alarm saying, "This is the biggest hurricane, the lowest pressure ever seen, and it went from Cat 1 to Cat 5 overnight..."

I lay there thinking about what I had just heard, muttered 'oh fcuk,' pulled the blanket over my head and refused to get up until the dogs complained.

For the first few years back here, hurricanes weren't exactly a big problem - last year it got personal - I got traumatized. This year has been dicey - this year I'm more offended than frightened...

We have been missed but at a horrendous cost - God knows, no one deserved Katrina or Rita.

Wilma has caused a bit of concern 'in these parts,' up until about 5 p.m., but it looks like this area is going to be missed again - Tropical Storm action only... We hope it keeps diving south - WAY south, like, we like Key West the way it is.

'One day - you'll be in my shoes'

I can remember being told that by my mother... The thought brings a smile and a sad giggle.

I had refused to go shopping with her - nothing serious - just the grocery store.

She was standing there, hands on hips wearing sweatpants too short to meet her ankles, but covering the top of her socks, beat-to-shit Keds, a Mickey Mouse shortsleeved sweatshirt and a scarf over her hair. Now, I was not what could be termed a fashion-conscious teen, but this combination was just bad.

She said it was comfortable, to hell with what it looked like. This was a woman who was one of the best and classiest saleswomen at the Frontenac [St. Louis] Saks Fifth Avenue.

Dressed to kill five days a week and on the two days she wanted to relax - her kid refused to be seen with her. If I remember correctly, I did end up giving in and going. I always did.

But, shame on me. Especially now, as I sit here in my sweatpants, outdoor birkenstock clogs and sweatshirt that sadly received a christening of my coffee a few minutes ago. Only thing missing is the scarf...

Not going there.