It’s been a while, but since Random Thursday posts are like falling off a bicycle, I think I remember how to do them: just start typing and let gravity do the heavy lifting. Or is that “heavy dropping”?
- And speaking of falling off a bicycle, we sort of did that last weekend. Well, what we did was more like falling with our bicycle, but the result was the same. Remember Artie Johnson’s recurring tricycle schtick in Laugh In? Yeah, we repeated that exact thing on a neighborhood street, thanks to shoes that suddenly wouldn’t unclip from pedals as we pulled up to a stop sign. No injuries and no damage resulted from our slow-motion descent to the pavement. That’s one advantage of riding a recumbent; you’re much closer to the ground when you embark on stupid bike tricks.
- We’re gonna need a bigger hard drive. High-end camera maker Hasselblad has announced a new model that produces 200-megapixel images. And we thought HD video took up a lot of storage space.
- As we consider the implications of worldwide natural disasters, an obvious question is “where do you go to be safe?” According to a study published in the New York Times, the answer is “not Dallas.” In fact, of the eight “Highest Risk” metropolitan areas, four are in Texas, including Corpus Christi, Houston, and Austin. Two of the lowest risk areas are in Oregon, but as the previous bullet point proves, not all significant dangers originate with Mother Nature.It’s interesting to note that Odessa appears to have a slightly higher risk of natural disasters than Midland. There’s no explanation provided; the reader is invited to supply his or her own theories.
Found something on the web. Somehow from work I can’t access Midland’s info.
http://www.clrsearch.com/Odessa…/TX/…/Weather_Pollution_and_Natural_Disaster_Risk_Indexes –
Eric, I am sure there ia formula that take into account seismic activity and weather related phenomenon. Evidently sand storms are not included. Maybe NOAA has that all hashed out on their fancy smancy charts. Believe it or not there have been tremors reported in the Permian Basin, though those events may not be noticeable enough to knock your favorite cold ice tea beverage over.
Other considerations, (and I am shooting in the dark on this theory) that the study may include square miles which each city limit encompasses, plus the unintended consquences what a natural disaster may proprate such as damage to the petrochemical plant south of Odessa. I know that if a tornado took out the Starbucks on Rankin Hwy, we would have a crisis of titanic proportions. 😉
Thank you for thinking of me and just posting a link rather than the artwork itself. 🙂 Do you think you could do something about the U-Haul truck that has those creatures swarming, larger than life, all over the side? 🙂 This one gave me the heebie jeebies for the whole afternoon after I chanced to drive by it today.
John, you’re right about the seismic activity in the Permian Basin. Snyder, in particular, has a regular recurrence of tremors in the 2-3 range of the Richter Scale. But I don’t recall any such reports from Midland/Odessa specifically. I’m with you on the Rankin Highway Starbucks thing, though!
Beth, I’ve actually wondered in the past about the marketing acumen of U-Haul, knowing that you’re certainly not the only person in the US who is repulsed by snakes in every form and flavor. I guess they figure that the graphics on the trailer or truck won’t be significant enough to change someone’s plans, but it just doesn’t strike me (no pun intended) as very perceptive or considerate.