Friday started out simply enough. Mark and I grabbed lunch and decided to head to the zoo. Even tho it felt like a weekend, it was still a weekday. That worked to our advantage. There were not as many people at the zoo at all. Plus the College World Series was over, which meant even less traffic getting in and out of the area.
I've posted some photos on Flickr of our latest zoo adventures. You wouldn't think that a room full of butterflies would be as cool as it was. It was the ride home that was a whole different kind of interesting.
The Summer Arts Festival was going on downtown. There was a concert in one of the main parks scheduled to go on. Fireworks. Shakespeare On The Green. It was a busy weekend for activities in town with plenty of people out and about.
Heading back home you could see the clouds rolling in from the West. I think there was a chance of rain, but I didn't think it was to be til much later in the evening. It had been sunny all day. Very little breeze. This looked bad. VERY dark clouds. You could see the rain falling off in the distance. Even tho it was mid-afternoon, everyone was starting to turn on their headlights.
As I get on the interstate, I flip on my headlights as Mark turns on the local news. We were hoping to hear what was going on. The local station has no more mentioned the tornado sirens going off, than we heard them for ourselves. But it wasn't a tornado, they said. It was winds up to 90mph, but it wasn't a tornado. This was 'impressive'. Sheer force of wind just sweeping across the city. As we were heading on the interstate it started to rain more and more. To the North of us, we could see trees blowing fast. We could see dust blowing around, turning the sky brownish gray. Off in the distance to the West you could actually see the wall of wind and rain coming at you. We at 72nd street (for the locals) and pulled off the Interstate. This was not weather I wanted to be on a busy thoroughfare. I had no more than pulled off the road and It hit.
Pea to nickel-sized hail. Sheets of rain. Leaves and limbs flying around. You couldn't see out the front windshield, you could only see the lights of cars next to me. I technically wasn't even on a street. I was blocking traffic that was exiting off the Interstate. Tho to be fair, no one else was moving at all either. The Jeep shook from the wind. At one point we had out ears covered because the sound of the hail and rain hitting the Jeep was so loud. It was truly deafening. I couldn't have said anything to Mark without having to scream it. We just sat there for what seemed like at least 30 minutes. In actuality it was only five. The rain just didn't seem to end. The bright light blue lightning that we could see in the distance was the fireworks produced by the snapping of electrical lines.
A little 2-door hatchback passed us. It was a storm chaser. So the roads were manageable, presumable. He was getting around. As the rain lightened up, I debated what to do. We wanted to get home and get inside. But it was still a little to rough to drive in. I didn't dare park under a tree. I didn't want to be anywhere near a power lines. It's the middle of town. Where could a person park to wait it out. A Perkins parking lot became the refuge of dozens of people for the next few minutes or so.
Still listening to the radio, we heard the announcers mentioning the people at the concert and the people at the arts festival downtown. Telling them it's sweeping thru quickly and they maybe had a couple minutes to seek shelter.
As we listened to the storm details as it swept thru town, we started back up and headed home again. Intersections were a cluster fuck. With most street lights out, every intersection was a 4-way stop. And in such a state of urgency, people weren't to willing wait in line too long. My idea was to stay off the main roads. I didn't want to deal with the traffic and the people. Mark suggested sticking to the main roads to avoid downed trees and powerlines. Sure enough that's the way we ended up taking. My 'back road' home had a line of cars trying to turn around because of a downed powerline that stretched across the road.
We were in awe of the damage. It wasn't simply a branch down here or there. These were whole trees being uprooted. Large trees toppled over. Some on to streets. Some on to houses. Some on cars. Two people lost their lives from just such a thing.
Store front windows were brown out. One of the taller buildings downtown had at least 20 windows broken in. The damage was impressive. I'd never seen such destruction in persons, done in such a short time. And this wasn't even a tornado. As we were finally getting into the residentials streets, it was hard to drive. Not because of the weather, but because it was hard not to openly stare in awe. Streets lights down. Mail boxes toppled over. Trash cans all over. Construction pylons clearly far away from where there was any constructions.
The apartment complex itself had it's own share of damage. A light pole was down on one side of the street. One of the major trees had lost a chunk of branches. One of which blocked the parking lot that I park in. There was a guy checking the damage to his car from a tree falling on it. Others where out rearranging patio furniture that had tried to escape the confines of their porch.
We each took turns calling our families out of town, to let them know we were ok. In turn, we wanted to tell them of the storm. We both had trouble getting through. I'm sure due to the large number of calls on the network overall. When we finally reached our loved ones, everyone was fine. They barely had any damage at all; barely even any rain at all. It put our minds at ease.
The power was out. From a nearby clocktower we could tell that it had only been out for a half an hour. We sat around hoping the power would come back on soon. I resorted to looking up information online using my phone. Mark entertained himself with the Gameboy. We napped. What else can you do when you really don't have any power and the police are telling you to stay off the streets?
Finally we couldn't take it anymore and needed to get food. We couldn't cook anything without a stove. We took off in search of a restaurant that might still be open. Some blocks had power, but most restaurants were closed. We opted to grill out. Some intersections were completely fucked up. Heading to the grocery store we selected some items from the meat counter and some veggies we could grill.
By this time it was dark. Grilling in the dark isn't as easy as it sounds. It was extremely difficult to see and you only have so many hands to hold a plate, tongs, and a flash light. We ate, probably what was one of the best meals of the weekend. Played a few rounds of cards and turned in 'early'.
After having been with Mark for a while now, you get used to certain things. I'm used to sleeping with a fan on, regardless of the temperature. He's used to me being a human space heater. When you take away the one thing making it possible for us to sleep in the same bed, it was a rough night. Neither of us could get comfortable. It wasn't until 530am that the power came back on. I'm not a 'light' sleeper, but the sound of the whole house powering back up again and appliances beeping was enough of an alarm clock. I started up the fans and tucked us back in.
We were lucky. We were able to easily pull over and ride out the storm. We were only without power for 12 hours. Compared to the two days that some people were down. We didn't have any property damage. I can't say everyone was so lucky.
I posted this @ 6/30/2008 05:18:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
6/24/2008
POPULAR! YOU'RE GONNA BE POPULAR!
"I'll teach you the proper ploys when you talk to boys. Little ways to flirt and flounce. I'll show you what shoes to wear. How to fix your hair. Everything that really counts"
Looking back on my high school years I know I wasn't popular. Our class had cliques and social groups that ran with each other. Yet, I don't think any of the groups really clashed over popularity. Everyone was kind of chill. Doing their own thing. I had (and still have) a great group of friends. I didn't feel like I had to be someone else to hang around with the jocks or the Hometown Elite. I may have felt differently back then, but I really don't think so.
I don't recall looking at the other kids and wishing I had that 'something' that they possessed that made it so they never had to worry about a date to Prom. Or never wonder where they were going to sit at during lunch.
I would say there were A-List people in school. These were typically the kids of doctors, lawyers, and business men in town. They were usually in sports and involved in all the clubs. Everyone knew their name, even if they weren't friend with them. If anything, I had a sense of healthy competition with this type of person. I didn't want to be them. I wanted to beat them.
Now look at yourself as an adult. Take a look around at your place amongst your co-workers. Cliques? Social groups? Has the FHA become the group of Soccer Moms that organize play dates for their toddlers? What about the jocks? Obviously the geeks and nerds are running the IT department or managing the whole show overall.
But more importantly, are there still "lists". Maybe it's a list just in your company or on a larger scale like your city. I'm wondering if people are still seen as A-Lists or not in your social surroundings.
It really does fascinate me. The more removed from high school I get, the more I realize that maybe things don't change as much as I thought. We just get older. Does our standing on any possible list really affect how happy we are?
I posted this @ 6/24/2008 08:08:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
6/22/2008
IT'S A SUNSHINE DAY
It's Pride weekend in Omaha. Which I'd love say means a lot more than it does. I just don't think that Omaha has the community to support a huge Pride event like a larger city would. It's not a 'bad' thing really. I've always felt Omaha has a BIG 'small town' feel to it. This is just part of what comes with the territory.
Some people are all about gay pride. The rallies. The paraphenalic stickers and flags. The activism. I would say I'm in the middle of the spectrum of 'pride'. I have the stickers. I'll go to the parade (when I can). I'll read about related issues in health and activism. It 'is' me, but not 'only' me. I'm gung, but not so much ho. Wait... that last part didn't sound right.
Much in the same way that the Latino community celebrates their heritage around Cinco De Mayo or even Irish around St Patrick's Day, allow me to reflect on my 'heritage'. What I appreciate about my heritage is being able to not be afraid. Maybe it's where I live. Maybe it's who my friends are. Since I've been out I can only think of one time that being gay was really an issue. It was a former place of employment. But I would never be able to prove that it was really the official issue. C'est la vie.
I'm proud to know the people I know. My first roommate, through all his own personal issues, showed me that it's ok to be exactly who you are. Fuck the haters who are too afraid to be themselves. Bold. Brazen. Overboard. I'm not as outgoing as he is, but I'm not a shrinking violet either. An amazing friend in Chicago showed me that you are never too lost to be found. Even when I was so terribly down there were still good people that care. When I was scared about what my life might be like as a gay man, a good friend showed me that being gay doesn't mean that you can't have a family. That you can have the same 'normal' life as anyone else.
As a result of the people in my life I feel I am able to be exactly who I am. I wouldn't change that for the world.
I posted this @ 6/16/2008 06:12:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Anytime I've taken a personality test (the actual ones, not the ones that circulate the emails and blog memes) I typically come out on the border of introversion/extroversion. It depends on the time of the month, I guess.
I chose a career path where I would be dealing with people all the time. There are times when I think that I really am not cut out for dealing with people. Maybe I'm just too cranky, or I'm just solitary. Maybe I really just couldn't care less. Yet, I think everyone has moments like that. It's being able to push thru all the crap we get from people to really get to know the person themselves.
Every so often I get a reminder that I really am a student of human nature. People fascinate me. I really do have to hold back sometimes because I can be inappropriate with my questions. The problem, as I've said many times, is I dislike small talk. I'm not good at it. I may ask about the weather or how your pets are doing, but if I do, it's because I really am curious. I'm not going to ask because I have nothing better to talk about. On the same note, I'd rather ask about your father who is fighting cancer. I'd rather find out why you are terrified of storms. I'd rather know why your favorite meal is your favorite meal. I'm just curious about people.
I posted this @ 6/16/2008 06:03:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
6/04/2008
GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM
So there may or may not be aliens that have visited Earth. If this is one of them, I'd just like to say that I welcome them with open arms.
I posted this @ 6/04/2008 12:08:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
I'm a 30-something student of human nature. A music-lovin', groove-shakin', laugh-inducin', dish-cookin', gossip-slingin', type of guy. This is my diary of sorts...
