Snow, snow go away

The big and ONLY news in Kansas today is the blizzard that is currently slamming us.  I think in my first blog, I said I wouldn't focus on weather but seems that is the only thing to talk about today.  Texas pal and I talked for our hour walk/talk this morning and even she had to stay indoors today.  Her spin cycle kept pace with my treadmill while we hashed over a number of  important issues. She did mention that the Super Bowl parties were supposed to be starting at all the restaurants and hotels tonight but the airport was closed today.  Well, that makes it difficult.  The fans might not get there but the Packers and Steelers both arrived yesterday and are snug in the Omni hotels. 

I guess in the Midwest a lot of people will just be "chillin" (literally and figuratively).  I for one will be catching up on some reading and catching up with my DVR programs. 

When I was a teenager, I took a speed reading course.  I loved their infomercial (of course, that was before, it was called an infomercial) that you could read a book in 7 minutes or whatever the ridiculous promise was.  What I did get out of it was that I could get through a book at lightening speed and get through WAY more reading material.  I still read like a fool but now I have added a new dimension.  Now I speed watch TV programming too.   I think the guy that invented the DVR should be "sainted".
The 4 hours of the Today Show can be reduced to about a half hour or maybe 45 minutes.  Really!! I am not even missing anything of interest.  By the time you subtract the commercials (sorry marketers) subtract the "coming up in the next half hour, the repeats of stories, the NBC station breaks, the local weather (it's snowing, I get it) it pretty much leaves about a 45 minutes of program.  Of course, I also have to zip past the repeats from last night's news programs and the painful interviews with people that can't communicate in any way, shape or form.  On a good morning let's call it a half hour. With only a half an hour invested in the morning news show, I can take a couple of minutes to speed thru the Kansas City Star.  Big story is the weather (UGH), with a few other notable local stories involving politics, joblessness, crime,  lawsuits and other light fun reading.

The GOOD for today Feb. 1, 2011

Snow is pretty.  The news programs are predicting between 15 and 24 inches of snow for today.  At the moment we are probably around 5 or 6.   Say what you will, the undisturbed blanket of white is quite pretty.  Much prettier since I don't have to go out in it. The world slows down on a day like today.  I like that.  For all the years, I worked at jobs that required me to scoop out and get my butt to the office, I can really get into NOT having to be somewhere.  I baked some whole wheat bread this morning after my walk and the house smells great and I am going to sit down and power watch recordings on my DVR.  Life is good today.


The BAD for today

The alternate side of this blizzard is that it is COLD and after this 15-24 inches accumulates there is a dig out that is going to need to happen.  The tempature is supposed to drop to ten below zero.  That sucks.


The freakin' weird today.

The network's morning news programs were preempted by local weather programming.  I did pick them up on non-local affiliate stations (well actually my DVR picked them up) but I did watch them.  How can the media talk starting at  4:00 AM and they are still talking about snow.  Maybe they could apply some of the same tecniques of speed reading and power TV watching to speed reporting.  Just a thought.