tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post6897409887101799946..comments2024-03-28T02:08:57.016-07:00Comments on Old Geezers Out to Lunch: Embarrassed for MinnesotansThe Geezershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132213545989946724noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-6226873464676383622013-02-12T12:44:17.794-08:002013-02-12T12:44:17.794-08:00Blame TV news and their "Stormgasms." A...Blame TV news and their "Stormgasms." And they can always find a news whore willing to cry about how hard the weather is on them.joehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08520161706680568508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-7082546875372723812013-02-12T10:22:04.241-08:002013-02-12T10:22:04.241-08:00Interesting theory, Professor. And interesting tha...Interesting theory, Professor. And interesting that you see my "thing" as spotting signs of social erosion. That, I thought, was really your own bailiwick. I pale by comparison to your mastery in this arena. <br /><br />You have a point, though, about us perhaps looking for any time off excuse possible, since our routines no longer allow any. <br /><br />—Mercurious—The Geezershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12132213545989946724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-67652529671427751922013-02-12T07:07:55.290-08:002013-02-12T07:07:55.290-08:00Please please please send some of that snow here t...Please please please send some of that snow here to KY :)Optimistic Existentialisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11507986337866049924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-76179329137241855882013-02-12T05:24:21.907-08:002013-02-12T05:24:21.907-08:00As usual, Mercurious has spotted a tell-tale sympt...As usual, Mercurious has spotted a tell-tale symptom of social erosion. Certainly the media (and fear-mondering in general is a pricipal culprit here. But I also see at work here evidence of a basic human need being ignored. We need a sabbath. Traditionally, this has been provided on a weekly basis through a variety of faith traditions, but the religious aspect of it is not what is of essence here. We may need time and space to commune with our deity of choice, but what is more certain is that we need TIME OFF from things. We need time in which nothing is planned, nothing is expected of us, and in which we are free to sit ponder, brood, or otherwise take a thankful psuchological breather.<br /><br />It is my theory that one reason so many people rush to invoke the exuse of weather to cancel things is that we have become too incessantly scheduled. We no longer have a socially-enforced day of rest (I now realize how foolish I was to criticize businesses being closed on Sunday in my youth) and so the "snow day" emerges as one of the very few moments in our frantic lives in which we feel free to knock off and do nothing without fear if implied reprisal from one corner or another. As much as it bugs me to have things cancelled, there is something a bit psychologically cozy sitting at home (or in the office if you ignore the silliness and come in anyway) in a swowfall-induced calm, peacefully thinking about whatever comes to mind, thinking that if anything "productive" happens that would exceed expectations.<br /><br />Has "snow day" become our new (and numerically insufficient) sabbath? The Professornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-279800587158317272013-02-11T18:26:24.726-08:002013-02-11T18:26:24.726-08:00As a former member of the news media, I plead &quo...As a former member of the news media, I plead "guilty as charged." I can remember the day when a rain storm moved through Phoenix, Arizona . . where I worked then . . and the next day the "relatively new" news director chewed everyone's butts because we didn't lead the newscast with this huge weather story.<br /><br />I grew up in North Dakota. I knew storms and blizzards and such. This was just a sudden heavy rain. But from then on, we always covered any kind of "out of the ordinary" weather event like it was the Second Coming of . . . Elvis. (Bet you thought I was going to say someone else!)<br /><br />It has become ridiculous. Even with this huge snowstorm in the northeast, as an old North Dakotan I'm saying . . "So . . .???"Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-80439213608517303052013-02-11T14:53:14.456-08:002013-02-11T14:53:14.456-08:00I hear 'ya. When all else fails, trot out the...I hear 'ya. When all else fails, trot out the weatherguesser and his "Storm Trackers". Here in Texas as you might imagine snow IS a big deal. Not that we're afraid of it, but that it is just DIFFERENT. I've seen reporters on the street pointing down at a tiny dusting of snow, trying to stretch this weather phenomonen in a 3 minute segment. It's ridiculous!<br /><br />SLowandslowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08608734222483888884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274757246538504796.post-16708153837509965172013-02-11T14:24:23.325-08:002013-02-11T14:24:23.325-08:00Minnesotans are supposed to be a stronger breed th...Minnesotans are supposed to be a stronger breed than most of us in the U.S. Out here in sunny Southern California, we don't really have much weather at all. It's pretty much always mild. If there is a 10% chance of a quarter inch of rain here, all the news channels start there "Storm Track" or "Storm Watch." It's both amusing and pathetic at the same time.Pat Tilletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17699973774273291205noreply@blogger.com