Mother Nature is still schziod… and other news

First off let me say that this blog entry is being written on Monday, March 24 at about 6:25AM. With no internet connection it’s being posted on Tuesday, March 25.

Flood waters from the Meramec River have been receding for the last few days except in Arnold at the confluence with the Mississippi. In Eureka the river crested at 40.06 feet during Friday. Some home and business owners in Pacific and Eureka were able to return to check for damage yesterday and others would return today. State Highway 141 at I-44 which closed Thursday reopened early today. The flood waters had been so bad at that MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) had to put out concrete dividers and sandbags to keep 44 from going under, fortunately it never did. Yesterday’s weather was just flat out screwy. It snowed off and on majority of the day. Not only did it snow but there was sleet and sun! This is just nuts. Oh well, typical Missouri weather.

In other news, the men’s basketball team of Washington University in St. Louis won the NCAA Division III championship for the first time on Saturday in Salem, VA. To continue with sports for a bit, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 14-4 in one of the last Spring Training games. At the end of this week, the Cardinals will play two exposition games in Springfield against their Double-A club, the Springfield Cardinals.

Unfortunately there is another reality that all Americans are having to face. Late last night (Monday in Iraq) the 4000th soldier was killed in Iraq, when four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb.

Post Rain Havoc

With all the rain Missouri has had over the last 24-48 hours, many rivers have flooded, going over their banks. As a matter of fact, the President has declared 70 counties and the the City of St. Louis, Federal Disaster areas. That's more than 60% of the state! Some rivers, like the Finley River in Ozark, MO or the Gasconade River in Laclede County, which closed I-44 overnight, are receding but there are other rivers closer to St. Louis, such as the Meramec River, which will not reach it's flood crest hight until as late as Sunday morning. In my hometown of Pacific, MO the Meramec is expected to crest at 31.5 feet Saturday. This isn't a record, which was set in 1982, but it will be bad for the folks that live near the river in Pacific and for people all over Missouri that live near these flooded rivers, creeks and streams. It's like '93 all over again and for some even worse, but many people did heed the warnings, such as those in Pacific and got out. Well, that's all I got. To all of you out there, "Live Long and Prosper".

A legend passes and the weather sucks

First and foremost I have just read about the passing of a sci-fi literary legend. Arthur C. Clarke, author of the book and co-writer of the screenplay, 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at the age of 90. My condolences go out to his family, friends, and many fans around the world.

Here in southwest Missouri, along with a large portion of the Midwest, it has been raining... and raining... and raining. It's been raining so much and so hard around here that at least three public school districts were closed today because of flash floods. This is getting ridiculous! On top of all the rain we've had so far over the last 24 hours, we still getting more tomorrow. There have been many water rescues, unfortunately, at least 3 people have died here in Missouri from the floodwaters, one right here in Greene County. All of this rain is supposed to end either late tonight or the wee hours of tomorrow with gradual clearing to mostly sunny skies tomorrow with a high of 52 F. I've told people that Mother Nature has become scizoid. She has just lost her mind. I don't get it. Oh, Well. Anyway that's all I got. To all of you out there, "Live Long and Prosper."

Missouri State discharges B-ball Coach

In a move that did not surprise many in the Springfield area, during a live press conference, Missouri State's University President, Dr. Michael Nietzel and Athletic Director, Bill Rowe, publicly discharged Barry Hinson from his duties as Head Coach of the Men's Basketball program after holding the position for nine seasons. Even though I'm not an avid fan of Bears basketball, it's an unfortunate and sad event that's occurred. Overall, I think most fans supported Hinson, despite not getting into the NCAA tournament, which for some was the linchpin for a successful team, in their eyes. There had been two opportunities to get into "The Big Dance" during Hinson's tenure. These opportunities were "at-large" bids and both were denied.

In the time I've been associated with Missouri State in one way or another, Barry Hinson has been THE coach of Bear's basketball. It will be very strange to hear different name associated with the position of head coach of Missouri State Bears men's basketball. Despite Hinson's departure, there is no animosity between him and Nietzel & Rowe. As a matter of fact, the university president stated during the press conference today that he considered Barry a friend and colleague now and in the future. As for the future, as related to men's basketball at Missouri State, we will all have to wait and see what unfolds.

That's then end to this entry. So, to everyone out there "Live long and prosper."

Chaotic Ramblings Return

It has been more than two and a half years since my last post and far too much has happened to be mention in detail especially since my mind is half empty. :D (Sorry, couldn't resist). Where to begin... There is just too much. I guess I could start with baseball since the 2008 season is about to start in a month. St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006! Also that year, I worked concessions at Hammons Field during in home games. It was a fun, but exhausting experience. That summer there was at least 3 rain outs that I can remember and one night, lightening actually struck the facility. In 2007, the Springfield Cardinals nearly won the Texas League Championship. This year, the Springfield Cardinals are hosting the St. Louis Cardinals for two exhibition games near the end of the month. There were a little over 6,000 tickets available recently for these games and they were gone in 12 minutes!

Since before January of this year, numerous candidates had been running for President of the United States. Many of these candidates have dropped out for various reasons. Now, the presumptive Republican nominee is John McCain, who is currently serving as a US Senator from Arizona. On the Democratic side of the election, it is currently a toss-up for the nomination between the Senator from New York and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. We as a nation may know who the nominee is after the Pennslyvania primary in April or we may not know until the actual convention. Oh well. Who ever gets the nomination will need a hell of a lot security, if they don't have it already.

Being from the St. Louis area originally, I keep my eye on the news up there. Recently a local man from one of the suburbs died of injuries he received after being ran over by a car driven by a couple who had just stole a tip jar from a Starbucks which has less than $5 in it. The perpetrators have been caught. However charges haven't been filed yet because intent has to be established on whether or not the suspects intended on killing the man that was attempting to prevent the theft. You can read about it at www.stltoday.com, which is the website for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. I think it's quite sad and I hope the suspects are found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.

In my own life over the last two and half years, a lot has happened. I'm still living In the same apartment I moved into in '05. I'm still working for the same place that I have been since before I even started this blog but gained more responsibilities and more hours but not full time hours, which still sucks in a way. Academically, I still am not finished with my bachelor's degree in computer information systems, but I am getting closer. The class I'm in right now should be my last. It's an independent study course but it's also an academic service project. Basically I go to one of the local public schools and be a walking help desk. I can honestly say that this class has been an enjoyable experience, so far. In January 2007, there was a major ice storm in southwest Missouri and a few days after it, I broke my left leg fall on the ice outside a friend's apartment. I was off of work for two and a half months, which really sucked and I am still dealing with the consequences to this day. Of course, I'll be dealing with it the rest of my life. This was a card that life dealt me at the time.

Another card that life dealt me more recently was getting the chance to go to an technology expo hosted by a branch of the local library. It was an all day event with seminars ranging from ethics in the information age to computer security for non-geeks to facts about e-waste. The organizations that sponsored the event gave out door prizes to those attendees that entered their names at the end of each seminar with a grand prize awarded at the end of the expo. This grand prize was a Toshiba Satellite laptop donated by the local Best Buy store. The lucky winner of this laptop is me. I was very surprised that my name was drawn and I'm more than pleased with the laptop.

Well, that's all for now. I hope to update the blog a lot more often then I have but one can never tell. To everyone out there, "Live Long and Prosper."