6 posts tagged “weather”

I wish I could understand what the fuss is about.

No, I'm not talking about the Lakers trouncing the Magic in the NBA Finals (though, can I just say I'm so glad that is finally over?). I'm talking about listening to my coworkers constantly complain about the temperature in the office.

Here's the deal. The temperature outside is about 98 degrees with 70% humidity. So, yes, it's hot. The temperature inside the office is about 73 degrees, which, last I checked, is significantly cooler.

At 73 degrees, I can still comfortably wear a light hoodie, which pisses people off because I'm actually a little cool. When the temperature drops to 70 degrees, I need a thicker jacket and will plug in my little space heater. And if it's below 68 degrees, my body shuts down and I, entering into a mild state of hypothermia, fall asleep. Cold air, you see, does not keep me awake; it puts me to sleep.

So, here I am, sitting comfortably at work and lamenting the fact that I did not wear socks today because my feet are getting a bit cold, and all I hear around me is constant bitching about the air conditioner (which, judging by the draft I feel on the back of my neck, is actually working quite well).

Ugh.

I have a gigantic bottle of Eucerin lotion on my desk and have been taking periodic breaks to moisturize my hands.

My skin is so dry, my knuckles are bleeding and my fingertips are peeling. And, no, I haven't been in any fist fights lately.

My hair is experiencing the same fate. No, my scalp isn't bleeding (I have too much hair on my head for the sunlight to even add any pigment to my scalp), but my hair feels like straw. No amount of conditioning or moisturizing shampoo has been able to help.

[sigh]

I love the cold weather we've had, and I'm grateful for the dry weather. I miss the dry air, especially during the Florida Summers. I am not, however, a fan of having extra dry skin. It's the oddest thing, too, because I didn't have dry skin when I lived in SoCal. I didn't have sinus problems or ear infections until I moved to Florida, too, but that's a whole different story.

I've never been a fan of moisturizer, but it's currently my new best friend.

Nothing will wake you from your post-sugar-rush slump like a fire alarm, its shrill piercing tones still ringing in my head. No one made much of an effort to move until the Loss Prevention guy came down the corridor on his way out of the building. That's when everyone started scurrying to the lobby. It was a false alarm, though. Everything's fine, everyone's safe, and all the guitars on the walls downstairs are dry and secure.

I've just spoken with my friend Bekki and am very excited. I received a confirmation e-mail that I'm on the list to get into tomorrow night's Smashing Pumpkins show, and Bekki agreed to go with me! Hurray! And Chris is okay staying at home with The Boy and putting the little one down for the night. Double hurray!

Of course, this means Mommy won't sleep tomorrow night, though. Oh well. I'll try to catch a couple of solid naps this weekend. My basil plant is doing just fine in its tiny container on my window sill; one more week shouldn't hurt it too much, right?

I've decided I like the analysis portion of planning better than the forecasting part of it. Forecasting sucks because you can wind up being oh so wrong and get blamed for it, whereas analysis is all about interpreting the past. Also, forecasting an entire year out when this year isn't finished yet is a lot harder when you actually sit down to do it.

Today's weather is worse than it was yesterday and the day before. The rain hasn't let up at all. And when it's overcast outside, it's freezing in the building, so I'm wearing a jacket and have my space heater on high.

One of the guys from IT just stopped by and said the system I use for all my reporting will be offline in about an hour for about 30 minutes. [sigh] As if I need any more reasons to be completely unproductive today.

In an effort to work in more exercise and conserve gas, on the days I forget to pack a lunch, I've walked to Wendy's. It's not terribly far away - it's across the street and down the block - and it only takes about 20 minutes to walk there, get my food, and walk back.

Anyway, in my morning scramble to collect The Boy's things, I neglected to grab my own lunch. So I was prepared to walk across the street and had just passed my car in the parking lot when I chanced to look up and saw sheets of rain making their way towards me. I doubled back to my car and drove the ridiculously short distance so that I wouldn't get soaked. After all, I may have additional clothes for myself in my car, but I don't have a towel in there anymore.

Our summer rain showers are really quite insignificant given the current conditions throughout the Midwest. My heart goes out to everyone there. I just saw on the news that Des Moines is under a voluntary evacuation order. How scary is that?

It certainly puts my own weather woes into perspective.

(If you recognize the source of my entry title, you totally rock!)

This is Florida. Central Florida, to be more precise. The nice thing about Central Florida is that, well, as the name implies, it's in the center of the state, and hurricanes aren't as likely to hit us head-on. But, as it's still Florida, we get rain. Lots of it.

I don't know why Seattle has the reputation of being a rainy city. The times I've been to Seattle - in fact, the times I've been in Washington state at all - it's been nice. Sure, some days were a bit overcast, and there were some drizzly days, too, but the weather never seemed that bad.

In the summer, it rains every day in Central Florida. I don't know why people insist on vacationing here in the summer when there are daily downpours. Honestly. You can almost set your watch by them. You know it's time to go home when the skies open up and water starts gushing from the clouds above. It's almost like an invisible hand is wringing out these clouds as they pass over the area. On those days, especially, you feel stupid if you've left your umbrella in the car - or, even worse, at home. (I feel especially stupid often, though not today.) And, since it's Florida, it could be raining at my office but clear as a bell at my husband's office and overcast at Baby C's school. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

Today, though, we don't just have the patchy afternoon showers. When I arrived home last night, it was raining. When I went to bed last night, it was raining. When Baby C woke up for his midnight(ish) snack, it was raining. When Baby C woke me up this morning (at 4:30) to be fed, it was raining. And when I left the house this morning, guess what? It was raining.

It's still raining. And I don't think there's any sign of it stopping any time soon.

So help me, please... Hold back the rain!

If you were to draw a map of Central Florida and shade the area where the Orlando MSA (Metro Service Area) and Tampa MSA overlap, you would locate my neighborhood. We're about 60 miles from Downtown Tampa and 40 miles from Downtown Orlando.

This morning, the meteorologist on my morning news show said we would have a 20% chance of rain today. During the summer in Florida, a "20% chance of rain" is on par with "it probably won't rain today, but I'll just hedge my bets." Very rarely does it mean "expect a deluge" - that's usually indicated by an 80% chance of rain. (Even during hurricanes, they say there's an 80% chance of rain. I just don't get it.)

Anyway, I felt inclined to write about this morning's weather report because of the torrential downpour that greeted me as I left the grocery store at lunch today.

It's bad enough that meteorologists have such a bad track record, but it's made even worse when I have to listen to one reporting for a different part of the state, only because I happen to live on the outskirts of that MSA. I'd might as well be getting the weather report for Butte, Montana.

[sigh]