Winter has arrived in Kansas City and it's snowing for my birthday :-) This weather warning went out this morning:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
426 AM CST THU NOV 30 2006
KSZ069-070-093-094-098-301830-
THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT.
A POTENTIALLY PARALYZING SNOWSTORM IS EXPECTED TODAY. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS AROUND A FOOT ARE LIKELY EAST OF HIGHWAY 77...WITH AMOUNTS DROPPING TO AROUND 9 INCHES WEST OF HIGHWAY 77. THE SNOW WILL START LATER THIS MORNING AND BE HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE NARROW BANDS OF THE HEAVIEST SNOW. LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SNOW IS LIKELY EARLY THIS EVENING.
BRIEF PERIODS OF SLEET MAY ALSO OCCUR THIS MORNING. WIND GUSTS OVER 30 MPH WILL CAUSE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW. A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.
$$
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Thanksgiving & Football

Yesterday was Thanksgiving day here in the USA. It’s a big national holiday where people go and visit their families and have a large turkey dinner. Once everyone is full of food the sleeping drugs in the turkey kick in and they all chill out and watch the NFL football games that are on TV. This year there were three games back to back. About 9 hours of American football. Plenty for the hard core fan.
We were lucky enough to be invited round to a friends house to take part in their Thanksgiving. Another tradition is to go out before eating and play a little Football. I had never tried this before. I have watched on TV and thought it doesn’t look too difficult but then most things on TV look easier than they are. After meeting up with our friends we headed over to a local football field to have a crack at kicking a field goal. How hard could it be? The professionals on TV can put the ball between the posts from 50 – 60 yards on a good day. When I got to the field and stood 50 yards from the goals there was no way in a million years I would be able to do that. We started out at the 20 yard line and had a go. I think I was hitting about 1 in 5 from the 20. Not bad for a first go. Once we pushed back to the 30 yard line I could still reach the goal but my accuracy was getting worse, probably hitting 1 in 8. Another 5 yards back and that was it. Couldn’t hit a cows arse with a spade from there. I had to put in so much effort to try and reach that my accuracy went out the window.
Hats off to the professional who make it look so simple. They really have perfected their skills. Next time I see a 60 yard field goal completed I will have much more respect. It’s not as easy as it looks!!

Elections

Last night saw the end of the Senate elections over here in the USA. Typically these types of things are a bit boring but when I compared it to the elections in the UK I realised its very different and quite entertaining. I’m sure Americans find it boring because it’s the same thing over and over for them but for me the campaign tactics and TV commercials were fun.

In the UK you get to see ‘Party Political Broadcasts’ in the build up to an election. A member of the Labor party will pop on the screen and tell you what a good job they are doing and what they plan to do if you vote for them. Over here it’s very different. The big vote over here was for the State Senator. The race was between Jim Talent (who already held the job) and his challenger Claire McCaskill. Rather than Jim or Claire coming on the TV telling you want a great job they will do, you actually get something like this:

Scene: Sat in what appears to be his house. Very homely warm setting, this guy can be trusted, he looks nice.



Jim: “Claire McCaskill says she will audit old peoples homes and end the abuse there. She also says she will clean up the accounts of these old peoples homes and bring about change. She’s lying. Claire married an owner of a chain of old peoples homes and ordered that his businesses not be audited. She also wets the bed and smells. My name is Jim Talent and I authorise this message”.

Or you get:

Scene: Very similar. She looks friendly, like a member of the family perhaps. She could be an Aunty or something.



Claire: “Jim Talent says he supports Missouri. He says he votes for Missouri when he votes in Washington. He’s lying. He votes with Bush 95% of the time. He says he is against the war in Iraq but then voted to keep our troops out there and did you know he sleeps with his teddy bear and ‘forgot’ to pay taxes the last few years? Naughty naughty”


That’s the big difference. It seems they can say what they like about each other and as Election Day approached the mud throwing got worse and worse. I spoke to some people at work to try and establish the ground rules for these commercials. Can they say anything they like or is there a line? I was given this example.

In another state one of the candidates ran an advert saying his competitor called sex lines and was an all round not so nice guy who needed to hear the voice of some dodgy woman on the other end of the phone. Your basic sleaze campaign. Can they just say this or do they need some proof? It turns out you do need something to base your claim on. This particular candidate had managed to get hold of the phone records from a hotel stay his opponent made. One of the numbers on the list was indeed a sex line. He put 2 and 2 together, got 5 and ran the commercial. When the phone records were looked at again for more than 5 seconds it became clear that the sex line number was one digit away from the campaign hotline and one of the candidates aids had misdialed the number. The so called sex line call lasted 10 seconds or so and the correct number was dialed immediately afterwards and the call lasted many minutes. An innocent mistake by some assistant that led to the sleazy commercial. There was no point trying to defend it on TV as it would just draw more attention to the issue. This seems to be the way it goes. Say what you like so long as it very loosely based on something, anything!!

So compared to the UK, a US election is very different and very entertaining. Another big difference is the voters ability to influence policy directly. Not only do you get to vote for your favorite person over here you also get to say yes or no to various proposals. For example:

1. Do you think we should spend a load of money building new football stadiums?
2. Do you think we should allow stem cell research?
3. Do you think we should raise the tax on cigarettes?
4. Do you think we should raise the minimum wage?
5. Do you want to pay more tax for better roads?

So even if you favorite candidate is against ‘Question 2’ you can still vote for them but then vote no for Q2. The ability to vote on issues then spawns off another set of TV commercials campaigning for your Yes or No vote on issues. On the stem cell research you had opponents showing commercials saying a vote for yes will mean human cloning and the formation of an army of clones that will take over the world. In the Yes camp you had celebrities begging you to vote Yes so doctors can cure all the worlds’ illnesses and allow you to live to be 300. Again all the ads feel made up and there is very little fact to back up any claims.

Voting over here is tough if you want to make a well informed choice. There are so many issues on each ballot you don’t stand a chance. You end up voting for the person who looks best on TV or on the made up claim that stuck in your mind. I guess in that way it’s not far from the UK really.

We are under attack!!!

I received an email from my brother today. He is currently traveling in the Far East and emailed me from Thailand. He had just come back from a day chillin on the beach in Phuket. His email reminded me of our holiday in Thailand earlier this year and the strange final evening in Phuket.
After spending two weeks relaxing in Phuket we were getting ready to fly to Bangkok for three days of sightseeing. It was around 8 in the evening and we had just finished eating a lovely Thai curry from the local restaurant. Our bags were semi-packed and we were watching some TV. All of a sudden it sounded like the heavens had opened and a massive storm had hit. What we thought was rain was hammering on the windows. This seemed strange as it had rained hard earlier in the day and only did this every few days. We went over to the balcony and opened the curtains that covered the patio doors. It had just gone dark outside and it wasn’t raining. What we thought were rain drops hitting the windows were actually flying ants, millions of them!!
They must have been attracted to the balcony lights and now wanted to get into the apartment to watch a bit of TV. We stood for a moment mesmerized. I have never seen such a massive swarm of insects. From behind our glass windows it was quite a sight. I certainly wouldn’t want to step outside. We suddenly realised, if they were trying to get in here they might be trying other open windows. My brother ran into his bedroom and promptly ran out again. His room was full of them. We quickly ran around the apartment and discovered we were heavily out numbered. At this point it started to get a bit scary. I realised I was hundreds of times larger than these little flying ants but there were loads of them. They were buzzing around the lights casting massive shadows on the walls and marching across the floor. It seems once they land they shed their wings and start walking. Time for war!!
The ants had many ground troops but we had a can of insect repellent and two electrified tennis rackets. If you haven’t seen these tennis rackets before I recommend you get one just for the fun of it. It’s basically a plastic tennis racket that holds a battery. On the grip there is a red button and this charges the metal racket strings. Once charged you can take a swing at the offending insect and you hear a nasty electrical crack as you strike it. Quite a humane death? We went to work, swatting away at the flying ants. Some swings yielded 10 or so electrical cracks. We must have looked a bit mental to anyone outside looking in. Two guys letting fly with plastic tennis rackets. After about five minutes we realised we were loosing the battle. New tactics were required. There is something creepy about large numbers of small insects. They seemed to get everywhere. Every time you touched something it seemed to be covered. Light switches, door handles etc.
Plan B.
We switched off all the lights apart from the one in the kitchen. We were hoping to get them all in one place for a final assault. This of course plunged most of the apartment into total darkness. The ants would buzz right past your face and ears perhaps landing in your hair which was very freaky. At this point we didn’t know if these guys could bite or not. They must have been pissed off and seeing many of there fellow ants slaughtered. Perhaps they wanted revenge.
Now there were hundreds of them in the kitchen. Most had lots their wings and were walking about. We had another tactical discussion and came up with a final plan. In one swift movement we ran into the kitchen, killed the kitchen lights, opened the back door and switched on the outside light. The plan was to get them to walk out of the apartment of their own free will, heading towards the new light source. A bit like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. This plan wasn’t without risk. Opening the back door could have allowed reinforcements in. Fortunately it worked well and the war was over. After half an hour or so most had left. We finally relaxed and suddenly realised we had been combating the ants for over two long hours!!!
The next day we woke and saw the battle field in day light. Most of the lounge and kitchen area was littered with wings and dead bodies. It wasn’t a pretty sight. When we swept everything up it made quite an impressive pile.
We recounted the story to the taxi driver who took us to the airport. It seems this type of attack happens two or three times a year after a heavy rain fall. Two or three times a year!! Just our luck for it to happen on our last day when all we wanted to do was chill out on our last night!!