Snow Day Ramblings and Pics

I am watching CNN, where the major stories are political turmoil in Lebanon and Mexico (which, by the way, are the names of two towns in Missouri, but we're talking about the nations, here), and the next big story is the snow in the midwest. As you know, any time there is a weathery-type event, the news folk send some poor schmuck to do an on-location story. The reports from KC and St. Louis (two more Missouri place names, both of which (in Missouri) are the places we're talking about) brought two things to mind.

First, there were no on-location reports from the streets of Mexico or Lebanon (the nations), as there were from the edges of Missouri. As well, there was far more analysis of the snow than there was of the two major world events. I mean, the Lebanese are demanding a new government, and the Mexicans have two presidents, one claiming the other was not legitimately elected. Is it not possible that Hezbollah will wind up being a major player in that new Lebanese government? Is Mexico not a major trade partner of this country; and will that not be affected by a political tug-of-war south of the border? Are these not issues that might be a little bit more important than a snow storm? Is it okay to ask four rhetorical questions in a row? Or five, even?

Second, if the big snow and lots of infrastructure disruption was what these reporters were looking for, why did they broadcast from two places where there was hardly any snow on the ground when I was sitting in a house surrounded by no less than a foot of snow, where Interstate 70 and other US Highways were shut down, where the snow plows were left sitting overnight due to blizzard-like conditions, where all were asked to stay off the roads and not to expect timely responses from emergency services like the fire department and ambulances? That makes six rhetorical questions; and this direct statement saves me from making it seven in a row (see below).

I know it is petulant and contradictory to make a big deal out of poor weather reporting after criticizing the network for dedicating so much time to weather reporting; but, if you are going to do it, shouldn't you do it right?

Here's a photo of what I did all morning:














Here's an action photo of Ripken greeting the snow early this morning:














Here's a photo of the boys with Monkey from their trip out on Thanksgiving weekend (we were in Rocheport):














And finally, a shot of the Great Pumpkin Pie-Off of 2006 (Yoga Lady and I got our butts kicked by some kid who uses real pumpkin (did I happen to mention that I'm impressed?):