Dreams of White

At the end of November, we should expect wintry weather to be rolling across the country. Instead, global warming brought rain to Minnesota Sunday, wiping out the snow that fell Friday. Now, Mother Nature is trying to work her wonders across the Midwest with mixed results. At this time, no new snow has fallen in my part of Minnesota, but the blizzards have hit South Dakota and Nebraska.

People are wimps when it comes to winter weather. I am waiting for a real snowstorm like the Halloween blizzard of 1991 that caused Governor Arne Carlson to call off school for the entire state. Even at my young age of 23, I remember playing in snow forts carved directly from drifts and accumulation (not forts built in the snow piles). When a decent snow does come through, look at how people react: four highway deaths and many miles of closed interstates so far. I liked the early picture on the article of a guy shoveling his sidewalk--even though I hated being him years ago--"toughing out the cold." People who disagree with my view on cold/snow should move south to temperate climates. I, for one, want Minnesota to retain its reputation of four distinct seasons.

When will real winters return?

I Believe I Can Fly

Where do you want to travel? Cross country? Overseas? Half way around the world?

Whereever you plan to go, if you fly, expect a layover in some airport along the way, right? That's the way it's been. Especially for longer distances. Well, Boeing is trying to prove that the extra stop(s) are unnecessary by setting a record for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet.

Flying from Hong Kong to London Heathrow, the new Boeing 777-200LR flew east over the Pacific Ocean, the northern United States and the Atlantic Ocean. The flight lasted 22 hours and 45 minutes over 12,000 miles. They wanted to prove that direct commercial flights are possible between any two cities in the world: New York and Singapore, Los Angeles and Dubai, or Sydney and New York, London and Sydney.

My comments: Get up and walk often. Also, they better have in flight movies.

Dummy passenger, dummy driver

Restrictions for the High Occupancy Vehicle lane: Carpools (2 or more persons), Motorcycles, Buses. 6AM-9AM, 3PM-6PM.

People will do anything to hurry their commute by driving in the HOV lane. However, many people do not wish to carpool or take public transportation. Why not stick an object in the passenger seat that looks like a person from a distance? Besides, cops never watch the HOV lane for violators, right? Not quite.

In California, Kevin Morgan was caught with a kickboxing dummy as his passenger in the HOV lane. An officer positioned to view into passing cars noticed this "man" wearing a Miami Dolphins jacket and baseball cap. However, that "man" did not have any legs. The officer fined him $351.

Kevin left his dummy on the roadside as an example to other motorists who were considering that same method to beat the law.

Danger near the Pulpit

This is a story I truly cannot mock. I feel sinful for even considering doing so.

They warn you not to dry your hair in the bathtub because of possible electrocution. Horror movies have portrayed murder by dropping a radio into the tub. Who would ever worry about a similar fate at church. A Baptist pastor in Waco, TX--makes you think--was electrocuted while performing a baptism.

Baptisms in the Baptist church require full immersion. Pastor and baptizee stand in waist deep water and the pastor carefully dunks the person backwards. (You've seen the films portraying John the Baptist) In this day and age, though, people actually want to hear the pastor during the ritual. Welcome microphones. In this situation, the microphone caused a shock that killed him. The person being baptized had not stepped into the water, thus was unharmed.

The church will move forward even as they struggle with this tragedy.