The Just Venting, Airing Out, Talking Shit, Personal Beefs, Problems, Anger Management, and etc Thread for 2015

[jdcnow]

Thank you to those who have reached out to me.

Unfortunately, there were some casualties yesterday. At the intersection of the 30 Freeway @ the George Bush Turnpike, police reports are that 5 people died in a car wreck likely directly caused by the Garland-Rowlett-Rockwall tornado, pictured above, and up in eastern Collin County, past the city's outer suburbs, emergency management reports that two people died in a gas station that got blown away by a likely tornado, and, in a neighboring town in the same county, an infant child died, also weather-related.

We are still just glad to be among the living at this point.

I'm just thankful to still be here.

 

[eastofeden]

My ongoing battle with negotiating what I would love to say and what I don't say for purposes of making the world go around a little easier....

It is especially bad from Thanksgiving to Christmas.....and today was the worst so far except for a few days before Thanksgiving...

What I would like to say when people ask about Thanksgiving (and I do sometimes when I am not in the mood to keep my mouth shut)

"No..I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a bullshit holiday. The forefathers came over here..shared food..broke bread..then proceeded to rape and murder their hosts and call THEM the savages...and then have the nerve to say they were going to "save them"..fucking liars....they stole their land. So what am I supposed to celebrate? Which Lie? We were the worst guests...the worst immigrants LOL.... anyone could ever imagine...Can you imagine what the American Indians had to say about immigrants at the time?"

What I actually say

"Oh...I don't much like Thanksgiving"

...and Christmas was the day all of my Mom's personalities made an appearance in a 24 hour period. Being a survivor in The Walking Dead with zombies chasing you would be infinitely more fun that spending even an hour in that hellhole. It was a game to see if you could avoid any of the particularly nasty personalities from noticing you..especially the monster living inside of her....fun times EEK. The worst part...after the horrible roller coaster ride from hell...the final yuckiest personality would make an appearance...the dreadful Self Pity one who made you apologize for all the imaginary things you must have done to make her feel "like this"....shivers....and if you didn't succeed....the violent one would make an appearance to stand up for the self pity one...what a ride (BARF)

......NO THANKS..I DON'T WANT TO COME TO YOUR CHRISTMAS DINNER....

So....what do I say to anyone who asks? The truth makes people uncomfortable....

I guess I can go with

"I am mad they took Christ out of Christmas".... I kinda like the sound (and simplicity) of that...it's a lie of course

Another week and the "How was your Christmas" questions will stop..until next year...

 

[jdcnow]

I seem to remember you saying something about taking Tornadoes over Snow any day - since it sounded like Amarillo was getting snow, I guess you got your wish, too.

I'll take the severe weather any day of the week over snow, but one thing I absolutely do not care for is, of course, the injuries and loss of life. I'll gladly put up with the worst of ice storms, as long as people don't have to die. Most deaths caused by severe weather are completely preventable, if people will simply stay awake to the world around them, and heed the warnings from the police, the NWS, and the local news media. I think it's a fair, if rhetorical question, to ask that if those 5 people weren't out on the road during hellacious, tornadic thunderstorms, would they still be alive? If only... Of course, we'll never know, but I think it is fair to ask that.

Only a handful of weather-caused deaths are truly because of just luck of the draw and you being at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and therefore, your number's just up, and that's all there is to it. Usually, those are likely because the severe weather is so catastrophically bad that it ends up rewriting the history books - see May 3rd, '99, or April 27th, 2011 for that. Most severe weather and tornado deaths are completely preventable.

I think I posted in this exact thread that back during the May-June outbreak, where Texas and Oklahoma both saw about 3 and a half weeks straight of non-stop severe weather and tornado outbreaks almost daily...I remember seeing on the news where a guy got stuck down a flooded dirt road, on top of his brand new pickup truck, with a tornado-warned storm overhead, and the National Guard had to come out there by helicopter, and rescue his sorry ass. And then, that same man ranted on twitter about how he was mad that he lost his brand new truck.

I'll admit that while some people, like the pickup truck guy, deserve a Darwin Emmy, most of the time - not always, but most of the time, it really doesn't have to be that way. And that's what bothers me the most about days like yesterday. If only...

 

[jdcnow]

CBS News Radio just reported that the Garland-Rowlett-Rockwell tornado that hit the NE part of immediate Dallas-Fort Worth, has been preliminarily rated an EF4. Last night may have been our Moore, OK. Yes, an F4 tornado hit metro Dallas-Fort Worth last night.

Despite the cold and quite stormy weather today, those of us who are still among the living are very much glad to be so.

 

[medic1]

^Glad to see you my friend....

 

[refujiunderground]

 

[DonQuixote]

It's good to hear from you, Joe.

Take care of yourself.

 

[jdcnow]

^Glad to see you my friend....

It's good to hear from you, Joe.

Take care of yourself.

Thank you, both of you. Believe me when I tell you, it's good to be heard from.

Ok, so for Saturday night, regarding the tornado that hit NE Dallas County and Rockwall County (Garland, Rowlett, and Rockwall) - National Weather Service office in Fort Worth sent damage assessment crews out to rate the tornadoes that hit, based on the damage they did. Based on the news coverage, I want to say that this was the same tornado that hit all 3 suburbs, but I don't know that for sure. If a tornado lands on the ground, lifts, and then lands on the ground again, it is officially counted for the record as TWO tornadoes.

Even though this is a map of an old, unrelated winter weather event, it shows you basically where the biggest of the tornadoes hit.

The official word from the damage assessment crews is this - The damage in Garland is rated and EF4. The damage in Rowlett has been rated EF4.

Where you see the name Rose Hill, I believe that is technically within Garland city limits - This map names a lot of subdivisions as if they were actual towns. Just beneath that, you see the logo for Interstate 30, and you see where the roads meet. Now, go east from that intersection on 30, and you'll see a slight bend in the road right before it hits that dark green, blank area in the center (somewhat covered up by a pink radar return) - that's Lake Ray Hubbard. That slight curve is actually where the Bush Turnpike intersects the 30 Freeway, on the western shore of Lake Ray Hubbard. That's where those two major freeways meet. And I believe, that's technically Rowlett city limits.

That's where that EF4/EF3 came through, and caused that fatal car wreck that killed 5 people.

Oddly enough, a customer who came in this evening told me that he was coming back from Shreveport - he'd went there to go see family for Christmas and was just making it back here to Dallas-Fort Worth, when the storms happened. He told me that his intended route was to take the 30 - which would have put him right through that intersection, about an hour after that massive tornado hit.

Thankfully, he and his wife were travelling with the car radio turned to the news, and they heard about the Bush @ 30 incident in time to take an alternate route - The 20 Freeway to the 635, and come up here to Far North Dallas that way, rather than take the 30 and the Bush. He said he's grateful to be alive, and that that very easily could have been him and his wife.

I believe official records of tornadoes started being kept in 1950, by the Fort Worth NWS office. So in that 66 year recorded history, according to the website, Tornado History Project, there was only one other time that an F4 tornado ever hit immediate metro Dallas-Fort Worth - the Lancaster-Hutchins F4 of April 25th 1994. It hit south-central and southeastern Dallas County, on the city's southeast side. Width, 800 yards wide (6 and 3/4ths American football fields). Path length was 6 miles long, producing $500M dollars in damage, and killing 3 people.

While I do wish Saturday night's tornado didn't happen to begin with, it will be interesting to see how this one compares with the Lancaster-Hutchins F4. Thankfully, the 5 counties of metro Dallas-Fort Worth have never had to sustain an EF5. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, there's a first time for everything.

 

[jdcnow]

First World Problem, I know, but I hate that it's so cold outside, and it filters into my apartment, which forces me to have to wear a shirt.


As a grown-ass man with no kids, one thing that annoys the hell out of me is having to wear a shirt at home. I'll wear street or gym shorts all day long. But, if I'm not cooking or preparing food, or if I don't have company over, and it's just my roommate and I, I just feel like I shouldn't have to wear a shirt in my own damn house!

 

[jdcnow]

When I get my spring student loans, I'm getting an electric blanket! /irritated...

 

[EvilTwinTwo]

If full frontal nudity is not allowed in Hot Topics why are profiles with genetelia exposed ok?

 

[smokeshadow]

Here's additional info about the tornados and devastation from The Dallas Morning News

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/...-50000-without-power-across-north-texas.html/

 

[opinterph]

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[jdcnow]

Here's additional info about the tornados and devastation from The Dallas Morning News

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/...-50000-without-power-across-north-texas.html/

Thanks for that. There's still a lot of shock with the people I talked with today at work. The prevailing mood is sadness for the devastation, mixed with this underlying shock of, "Yes, tornadoes DO hit major cities, wake up and smell the coffee, because yes, it can happen *here*."

I whipped up this graphic, showing the path of the EF4 damage, and posted it to my Pinterest.

The tornado hit the northeast suburbs very hard, starting at the Sunnyvale-Garland city limits border, progressing through east Garland, and eventually into Lake Ray Hubbard. You can see, especially on the middle map, where the Bush Turnpike meets the 30 Freeway, and right at that freeway interchange is where that EF4 just plowed right on through, dead-on. Being on that freeway interchange at that particular time was simply not survivable. If you look at the middle map, and look along the 30, where the word "freeway" is, note where the letter Y is. At the base of that Y happens to be the Bobtown Road exit - Interstate 30 @ Bobtown. My store manager happens to live in apartments just to the north and west of that intersection, by just a block or two. His and his wife's apartment building shook as if an earthquake was happening. He also said that you could hear the classic freight train sound, and it went on for, like, 10 to 15 minutes.

This is a map I modified of all the tornadoes that happened that day and evening across central and eastern North Texas. The immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area and relevant suburbs are highlighted in blue. The black star is Far North Dallas, where I'm at. I can honestly say, I've never been that close to a monster storm like that, in all my life.

Basically, the breakdown of all of the ratings is this...

Pretty much all of the eastern tornadoes have been rated EF-Zeros, with winds 70 to 80 miles per hour. Don't get me wrong - in a wrong place at the wrong time situation, even EF-Zeros can be quite lethal.

The Hubbard-Blooming Grove and Ennis tornadoes were also rated EF-Zeros.

Up in eastern Collin County, the Blue Ridge tornado that killed that poor infant child was a Zero, too.

The Copeland tornado, also in eastern Collin County, that killed those 3 people in a gas station that got blown away, that was an EF2, with winds of 125 miles per hour.

The Ovilla-Glenn Heights tornado, in far-northern Ellis and far-southern Dallas Counties - the jury is still officially out on that one, but NWS Fort Worth has come out and said on twitter, that they have verified at least EF3 damage.

And then, of course, the big one, the 4, on the city's NE side, over by me, relatively speaking. The stats on that were top winds of 180, a 13-mile path length, and 550 yards wide - that is not a typo or misprint. One mile is 1,760 yards, one-fourth of a mile is 440 yards, and a third of a mile is about 587 yards. Just let it sink in for a moment that this damn thing was almost a third of a mile wide. In the city.

Those of us who made it out of Saturday night in one piece are still very much thankful to have done so.

 

[DonQuixote]

Thanks for the map with the explanations.

 

[MakeDigitalLove]

Today kind of sucks because the delivery truck came late and I have been working it myself for last hour and will be for the next 2 hours.

 

[smokeshadow]

JCD - just an FYI, but Lake Ray Hubbard is considered to be in the Dallas City Limits but once you reach the Northern shoreline you are in Rowlett or once you reach the Southern shoreline you are in Garland. Yeah, it's that crazy If you have an accident or car trouble on the bridge over the lake, you call Dallas police or fire/rescue.

 

[refujiunderground]

Fuck the american justice system. FUCK THE MEDIA TOO. The racism, man..... they are so desperate to put bill Cosby in prison and etc but letting all these fucking creepers, pedos and etc walk BUT a bunch of black people getting killed off by cops left and right can't get any fucking justice. Fuck all you people denying this shit too. Eat a dick. It's clear that if bill was white, this shit would disappear completely. I don't know if he did it or not but damn... something is terribly wrong when you got pointless shit like skin color affecting whether you receive justice or not. Disgusting especially when you have a rich white kid that got probation for killing 4 people and violated that shit.

Even disturbing that this shit is typical where it's normal
How can a black person living in this country not be paranoid or for that matter angry when it seems like a mission for folks to see them dead or in jail. I should become an nra member and other black people should too but you know if a bunch of black people started doing that shit, then all of a sudden there would be gun control laws when there were none before. Shit is sick how this country is. SICK.

 

[refujiunderground]

Fuck cnn as a staff, network and as a motherfucking crew.

 

[rareboy]

Fuck the american justice system. FUCK THE MEDIA TOO. The racism, man..... they are so desperate to put bill Cosby in prison and etc but letting all these fucking creepers, pedos and etc walk BUT a bunch of black people getting killed off by cops left and right can't get any fucking justice. Fuck all you people denying this shit too. Eat a dick. It's clear that if bill was white, this shit would disappear completely. I don't know if he did it or not but damn... something is terribly wrong when you got pointless shit like skin color affecting whether you receive justice or not. Disgusting especially when you have a rich white kid that got probation for killing 4 people and violated that shit.

Even disturbing that this shit is typical where it's normal
How can a black person living in this country not be paranoid or for that matter angry when it seems like a mission for folks to see them dead or in jail. I should become an nra member and other black people should too but you know if a bunch of black people started doing that shit, then all of a sudden there would be gun control laws when there were none before. Shit is sick how this country is. SICK.

I might have expected you to see this only through the lens of it being about picking on the black guy.

There are a lot of black media figures and leaders who have rightfully called for justice to be done for the women who were sexually abused by this guy. A lot of them black women, I would point out, who often have a hard time being heard.

Your jump to racism....even though you admit you don't know if he is guilty or not......that is a shame.

Please don't conflate black guys being murdered by racist cops with what is happening to Bill Cosby right now. If he is guilty and was allowed to go unchallenged after a lifetime as a serial rapist, that would have far worse consequences for black men everywhere than if his behaviour, if proven true, is clearly shown to be outside of civilized behaviour and that he is not some kind of role model for other men, black or white.