You're Gonna What?!?!

I am highly amused when I watch the weather. Have you ever noticed how most weatherpersons (I'm being politically correct today) really, really like their jobs? They get so excited as they watch a weather front come through. They explain what's happening. They show you the radar. Then they show you the map of what will happen over the next three hours. They show you the really cool moving map three times while they're talking, and then they say, "Now watch this!" and they turn to look at the map with us. It's always more fun when we see it all together.

In addition to their enthusiasm, they have cool toys. I always get tickled when a weatherperson (I'm PC, I told you!) is trying to do a projection of the path of a storm and they can't get the computer to work. You can see their little mouse moving frantically across the screen, but that projection funnel just won't hold.

Weatherpersons (do I really have to explain this again?) are probably really good with directions too. Have you ever noticed how they project the time that a storm is going to hit certain locales? No more of this, "It's going to be rainy and storming tonight." Now they can predict that the storm will hit Connors Landing at 8:15 and Miltonville at 8:22. And they say these towns as if they know exactly where they are. I get the impression they stopped at the Piggly-Wiggly in Miltonville just last night.

One of the aspects I find most humorous is a weatherperson's optimism. They explain that there will be showers in the morning, and then instead of saying cloudy in the afternoon, they'll say something like, "And we're going to try and move this rain off the coast by 2:00."

Really? How are you planning on doing that? Hooking it up to the back of your pickup?

 Or they'll say "we're going to try and get it up to 85 today for you."

 Seriously? You'd do that just for me? Are you gonna use heaters, or what? On a first name basis with the sun? Gonna talk another degree or two out of him, are you?

I actually remember the weatherman my folks watched while I was growing up. His name was Dr. David Easter. (I don't know if he was really a doctor of meteorology or not). He was so enthusiastic he almost climbed into the camera to tell you about the weather for today.

When we lived in Alabama, we had a weatherman who issued his own storm and tornado warnings. He didn't always agree with the National Weather Service, so he issued his own warnings when he felt it was appropriate. They usually came within a minute or two of the NWS, but he had his own way of calling it and he refused to change.

So, are you optimistic? Like working with advanced equipment? Feel pretty strong in your ability to affect major fronts? Then maybe being a weatherperson is your dream come true.

They never get it right anyway!