The weather, and the folks who try to predict it...

Can anyone tell me why we haven't discovered a decent way to predict the weather accurately?

We have all this equipment, satallites in orbit around the planets, and yet we still can't predict what the weather will be in 24 hours.

Now, I know, they even give us weekly forecasts, but I never follow those... I take weekly forecasts with a grain of salt.

But... comeon... 24 hours? Can't we get even that 100% right every day?

What brought this train of thought around? Well, my motorbike is now legal, and I've been riding it all weekend... when the weather was clear at least.

Thursday the forecast started by saying that Saturday and Sunday were going to be bright and sunny.

What did we have? Clouds, and rain, along with thunderstorms. That's where the grain of salt comes in. I remember is saying that Friday was going to have the thunderstorms, what did we have? Beautiful sunny skies until the evening. Then just a little rain.

Oh yeah... our weather technology is great isn't it?

Every time I see the incorrect weather predicted I'm reminded of a comedian I heard of awhile back: Why is it in any other job, if you lie, you'd get fired. But weathermen can lie on screen and still get to work the next day?

Come on people, let's get with the big picture. Let's find a reliable way to predict the weather... or even better, let's work on weather control. That way we can limit thunderstorms and hurricanes and tornadoes. Think of the lives that could be saved, the damage that could be prevented.

Freedom and the ability to be free.

Here's a thought I've had for awhile.

Freedom... specifically what it means to the individual person.

What does it mean to have freedom? What is it that truly makes us free?
Is it being free from decision? No, we are humans, we have to make decisions every day, good and bad.

Is it being free from responsibility? This I have to say is also no. No matter who you are, you are responsible... for yourself, for the environment, there's always something you're responsible for.

Is it the ability to go where we want, when we want? Ahhh... here's where the tricky part is. Can we truly ever just stop what we're doing and get up and go. Well... yes you could. But what are the repercussions? If you have a job, you may lose it. If you run out of money, you're stranded wherever you are. So we're not 100% free in this sense. Though I do believe this aspect of freedom contains the closest definition of freedom, with a bit of the first 2 aspects.

So, how are we free then? Are you free? Think to yourself about that.

Myself, my freedom has enlarged itself suddenly and very quickly. Those who know me know that I love motorbikes and have been working on my first one, getting it ready for the safety inspection... disappointed with the first inspection when it failed, getting a few more parts and finishing the repairs. Well today, my bike has passed inspection. It's declared safe to ride.

I can now go and transfer the ownership under my name completely and legally ride it on the streets. My area of travel has just gotten a whole lot bigger. Before, I was limited to two early morning buses to take me into town, and two in the evening to get me home. And only on the weekday. Weekends were a bust. I have to bike 14kms just to get to a bus. By then, I'm hot, sweaty and tired. I wouldn't want to inflict that on anyone, friends, family, etc...

Now, with my motorbike, after a bit of practice, I can hop on and leave, no need to worry about the bus, or the temperature during the day. (I've been severely dehydrated just from biking in the heavy heat)

What do I think freedom is? It's the ability to not be 100% dependent on something. Like the bus system. Sure, bad weather I'll take the bus, I have no problems with that. But on a nice day, why should I have to go home and be stuck there?

The loss of a voice...

Alright... most people who know me know every Tuesday night, I go to a co-workers place and we play RockBand... usually until around Midnight. I don't sing, I suck at it. I play the Bass for our band.

Now, I'm sometimes loud and happy-go-lucky :) Except last night I was pretty subdued and my friends noticed. I was just concentrating for the band, unlike them, I can't talk and play at the same time or I screw up... I'm learning though.

Well, our session came out well last night, like usually got home tired, but that's something I can deal with. But I wake up this morning and oddly... I can't speak, my voice comes out as a whisper. It's a very weird feeling to not be able to speak, I can tell you that. My throat hurts badly and when I try to say anything, well, nothing comes out, or it comes out very very quietly.

First Ever Post!

Well, it's official, I now have a blog.

What do I plan on doing with it?

Not much, I'm going to use this as a place to sound off thoughts and ideas that run through my head some days.

With that said though. Feel free to comment, criticize, or poke holes through my ideas.

What can you expect from me? Randomness with a purpose. Everything from my personal opinions of video games, movies, books, music... to programming styles, to new art/graphics that I like. Even comments about the weather can appear here.

Even general life stories may appear if I'm feeling nostaligic some days.