I must have sat down a dozen times to write this post, just to be called away for something else, some other task, some other issue needing my attention.

Andy Gabrielson, aka Find the Tornado, was killed over the weekend by a drunk driver, just a hour from my backyard.

He died, coming back from doing what he loved: chasing a storm.

I can’t say Andy and I were close. That would be a lie. However I met him on roughly a half dozen occasions when I first started as a storm spotter. We met for coffee and chit chat as he gave me some insight. We had met via twitter. He was a good man, with a love for the chase and a eye for video and pictures. You have probably seen his footage on countless Weather Channel shorts and news work across the country.

Andy was the real deal.

Last year his truck was flipped with him inside (the last 45 seconds of the video if you want fast forward to it)

Andy did his best to get good footage, which he more often than not succeeded in. He also gathered good data which was very important to meteorologists.

His work, his candor, and his will to do good for people was practically legendary. Last year he picked up Joel Taylor of Team Dominator fame from the side of the road after Reed and Joel parted ways. Andy was always, always willing to help.

As tribute over 500 storm chasers came together to honor Andy, in a way that can only be seen on the Radar screens that we watch, haunt, and stare at for hours. He would have appreciated it I think:

The world is a lesser place, and this storm season won’t be the same without him

If your in the area, or you wish to make a donation to Andy’s family, or attend his service, that information is after the jump.

God speed Andy, and where ever you are, ride the lightning.

For those going to Andy’s funeral on Saturday, it is asked that you wear jeans and black t-shirts. FindTheTornado t-shirts or SevereStudios t-shirts preferred, but any black shirt will do.

According to Andy’s parents, here are the services scheduled for Andy Gabrielson:

VISITATION
Friday, February 10
4pm – 8pm

FUNERAL
Saturday, February 11
10am

Both will be held at:
Grace Lutheran Church
500 N. Kniss
Luverne, MN 56156
http://graceluverne.org/about-2/location/

Flowers can be delivered to:
Hartquist Funeral Home
207 Elm Street
Luverne, MN 56156
(507) 283-2777
http://www.hartquistfuneral.com/obituaries/Andrew-Gabrielson/

Cards and/or monetary gifts can be mailed to:
Greg and Joanne Gabrielson
1320 91st St.
Luverne, MN 56156

We have also set up a fund where people can donate.
CLICK HERE for the Andy Gabrielson Memorial Fund.

For any questions, please contact Kory Hartman at (605) 770-1624

It isn’t that stressful, thats the good thing. It’s just I have so many things that I am trying to get accomplished.

I have school work for both of my classes every night.
I have work that I do all day, and sometimes I spent a few minutes each night on it.
I have my CAPM test I will be studying for shortly, hopefully I’ll be taking the test by the end of February.
With Spring on the way I have a training class all next week for Spotters.
My ankle is not as healed as I would like, and I’m still using a cane. I am hoping to be done with that next week if I can but right now it feels like someone smashing my foot with a hammer when i put any sort of real weight on it. Not a pleasant experience I can assure you.

During the course of all this fun and excitement I have several pieces of software that I have to buy, Microsoft project being one.

But the one that invariably always folks ask me about is my meteorological data processing program: GrLevelX.

I have used GrLevel2 for the last several years but this year I am also going to try to get my hands on Level3. They aren’t very expensive, but the work and detail they provide are extremely reliable.

With as mild as this winter has been, I am worried that the spring storms may be more robust and violent than what we have seen the last three years. Thats saying something seeing as how 2011 was one of the most deadly seasons on record.

Unless this winter freezes up soon, I think Spring may have a few surprises for us weather wise and I doubt highly we will like any of them.

And this week at work? I’m Taking Program Management.

So effectively I have 8 hours of Project and Program Management criteria, theories, and systems only to come home, put my mangled foot up, and spend another 3 to 4 hours reading Project and program Management criteria, theories and systems.

If I dream of Net Present Value formula’s tonight I’m gonna not be a happy camper tomorrow.

I was walking off my porch to head for work yesterday and for some reason I guess the “Walk This Way” portion of my brain stopped working. So I made my last step on the outright side of my foot, versus the bottom like every normal sole. Needless to say Mr Pain paid me a visit almost instantly and I proceeded to “Oooh!” and “Ahh!” in a enthusiastic fashion all the way back in to the house. I ace bandaged the hell out of it yesterday and wore a pair of my high top hiking boots to give it some support and made it through the day. I wasn’t going to be doing any suicides at the gym for sure. In fact I had to skip the gym.

Today its swollen the size of a small baseball. Going to use the same recipe today and cut out after lunch. I’ll probably see a doc since my graduation ceremony is next week and I kinda need to walk…..
That doesn’t make me very enthusiastic about this as I have already mentioned my previous displeasure with the medical profession.

Trouble comes in three’s the say. I think I’m up to about 9 or 10 now however.

I worked for anyone, for the highest bidder. Took all sorts of zany contract work. It’s one my reason my background is so wide. The downside is I could literally have 13 employers in a year. Thats no joke. My wife and I’s accountant used to charge us $25 extra just because of the amount of paperwork he had to slog through to get ours done, between the W2′s, expenses, gas, mileage, equipment, etc it just took forever. We didn’t complain.

The only complaint we had was I had no benefits, no retirement, and my work was literally feast or famine. I would go months without a job and unemployment only goes so far.

With this constant in and out of work, our bills suffered. My credit rating was just above a joke, but its somewhat better now. We have been able to afford things that we weren’t able to before, like my daughters school, and even going out to eat.

My wife has the steady job. Almost 10 years with her company. Her’s was the steady income while I played the telecom, tower and cable monkey going across the country.

Today that changed. On March 9 her job will be eliminated. They are going to do what they can too move people around in to other jobs, and she can fall back in to a hourly position easily, however she’ll take a very sizable cut in pay….over $400 per month.  She’s not the only one. Most of the supervisors and management team in her location are being downsized.

We’re told that they will all be individually briefed, and moves will try to be made. Thats nice and all, but we’ll be preparing for the worst just to be safe. We can’t afford that kind of a pay cut, frankly.

And unfortunately that puts us in a quandary. I just started school again, and while I can cover a lot of our bills I can not cover them all. Not to mention the large quantity of competition for jobs these days.

A lot of things will be changing. There’s a good chance I will have to move my daughter to a different school, and that could cause not only problems for her but logistical issues for my wife and I as well.

I’m getting used to Roller Coasters.

But I damn sure don’t like the ride.

It’s a hot button issue in Ireland.

At the time, and now to an extent, many feel that the over 5,000 Irishmen who left Ireland to fight against Nazi Germany in World War II were  and are criminals, or deserters.

They left the Irish Army, leaving Ireland who was neutral, to fight to stop the Nazi’s in World War II.

Today, there is a possibility they may be pardoned.

The Starvation Orders were the orders to blacklist those 5,000 troops upon their return. They could not get jobs, welfare, pensions or any assistance what so ever, some of them made a go at it. Others left the country yet again. Whats more the orders extended beyond just the individuals, but their families as well. It’s how my own family ended up in America.

Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution. They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen – but he wears his medals in secret. Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.

“They would come and get me, yes they would,” he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: “I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years.”

Mr Farrington’s fears are not groundless.

The fact that these individuals would be punished upon their return may seem…baffling. In America, certainly, this seems odd. But Ireland had only recently won it’s freedom, and many felt that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thus they hoped that Germany would beat Britain. Further the list of grievances and atrocities against Britain were long, as are Irish memories. By comparison, here in America those individuals would have been lumped with what we call the Greatest Generation, those who sacrificed greatly to halt a war that was encompassing much of the world. The Irish were no more pro-Nazi than the Swiss or the Swedes. They were, however, decidedly anti-British. “Neither King nor Kaiser” ring any bells? It was the slogan of the Irish Citizens Army during the 1916 uprising.

To the Irish point,  five thousand troops was nearly half of their defense force of the time. It would be similar to half of the US military force suddenly up and walking away to join, say, the Israeli Defense Force. Furthermore as many hardliners (rightly) point out, how would have Britain reacted had British troops deserted to fight for Irish freedom? The answer is the most would have faced a firing squad upon return or capture. Compunding the issue is the view that the  soldiers deserted their country that they had pledged to defend when, at the time, when there was a significant possibility that they were joining an army that may have been planning an invasion of their homeland.

A common historical story regarding the Irish in the war comes from Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill reportedly enjoyed a good joke. According to Dennis Kelly, one of Churchill’s former literary assistants, the following was one of his boss’s favorite stories, one that ‘he used to adore telling’: ‘British bomber over Berlin, caught in the searchlights, flak coming up, one engine on fire, rear-gunner wounded, Irish pilot mutters, “Thank God Dev kept us out of this bloody war.”

But many Irish citizens who served in the war did not volunteer at all. Those in British forces at the outbreak of war in 1939 had little choice about the matter, short of desertion (British figures suggest that as many as 5,000 did desert during the war and returned to Ireland). Others who had been working in Britain for two or more years had the choice of returning to Ireland in 1939 or becoming eligible for conscription. Many in this category stayed in Britain and thus, in effect, volunteered.

But the actions by Ireland are not uncommon, even if they do seem odd by American standards. To this day in Holland there are elderly people on reduced pension benefits as punishment for war time collaboration – the Irish treatment of deserters is not therefore without precedent.

However since those years, Germany and Austria have pardoned their army deserters in recent years so there is also precedent for doing this.

I am not sure there are any right answers to this. Irishman have fought wars for other countries for years. Some embrace it, some reject it. My own family has protected one country or another for over six generations.

What I do think, however, is that we need to move past these things. It’s time, it’s over. It’s time to work our way forward, and let these bygones be bygones. We all know now the atrocities that were acted by all parties involved both British and German.

I just don’t think it will happen in my time.

Rouskey, who had 20 years of experience repairing towers, was on the tower to replace a light, and was being assisted by his grandson, who was at the base.

Rescuers were dispatched to the scene at 4:40 p.m. and found him unresponsive 750 feet above the ground, according to Naples Daily News. A team of eight workers “untangled” Rouskey and lowered him to the ground. The rescue took five hours to complete.
A station engineer thought that he was changing out a beacon bulb at the time of the accident.

The guyed tower is set back behind Channel 30 Drive, along Old U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs.

The victim’s body reached ground at about 9:30 p.m., Giuliano said. Collier County rescuers were dispatched to the scene at about 4:40 p.m., joined by Bonita Springs fire responders, both county sheriff’s offices and other agencies.

A group of eight rescuers, including an Urban Search and Rescue team, worked to untangle the man and bring him down.

Officials cut power on the tower during the rescue mission for safety, having the FAA divert aircraft from the area.

They reached the technician about 7:30 p.m. Rescuers then discovered the man was dead.

“At that point it became a body recovery, as opposed to a rescue,” Giuliano said. “We slowed down and took our time.”

As they were preparing to climb the structure a sheriffs’ helicopter circled the tower and reported to rescuers that the man had been unresponsive for almost three hours.

medical examiners told family members that, according to an autopsy, Rouskey was electrocuted.

However, officials at District 21 Medical Examiner Rebecca Hamilton’s Office said they have not released findings and won’t issue a cause of death until results of lab tests are received.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation of the accidental death will not be completed until detectives receive reports from the medical examiner.

OSHA is also investigating the accident.

The 733-foot tower is owned by Super Towers Inc. of Manchester, Mass.

Rouskey, 61, lived in Cape Coral, Fla., where he and his wife, Kathleen, owned and operated Broadcast Services Tower and Antenna. He was a veteran of the Vietnam war and received a Bronze Star for his military service. He is survived by his wife, one son, Nick Rouskey; and two grandsons, Dylan and Ian; and other family members.

We grieve when these kind of events happen in our industry. The members of his family have our thoughts, prayers and condolences.

Updates as they become available…

Christchurch police say there has been a collapse at Scarborough rockface, but no injuries and collapse contained

Update – Quake near New Zealand’s Christchurch prompted evacuation of buildings, was “incredibly violent” http://t.co/M8CDH7Ib”
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So back in the 1990′s when I walked out of Cass Comprehensive High School in Cartersville, GA I had tried to go to college. I was accepted to Piedmont College, but my folks were so broke and I was so (to put it delicately) inept in my studies that not only could I not fund my college experience, I couldn’t even pay for the gas to get there to have their Financial Aid department attempt to work their magic.

I had used my HOPE Scholarships attending North Metro Technical Institute (Its changed names about three times since then…it’s now Chattahoochee Tech), but at the time I had no idea what in the hell accreditation meant, and they didn’t have any. They did help me graduate high school though so don’t read that statement as a bitter one, because I am not.

Anyway long story short, college quickly became a second consideration versus “What in the hell do I do with my self now?”

Sitting by Allatoona Lake drinking beer with the boys worked real well for about a  month, but it didn’t take long for me to figure out I couldn’t build boat docks for a living.I bummed around Nashville for about two weeks thinking I’d be the next Alan Jackson or Neil Young. I made $20 bucks one a street corner for my efforts. Intro family tradition and the Army recruiter stage right. I swore one day I’d never be so broke my kid couldn’t go to college when they had the chance.

It may not be a “traditional” school, but my University of Phoenix education was not a walk in the park, and I busted my ass for my degree. The turn over rate in students is pretty high, so to be one of the last folks standing makes me pretty happy. Anyone who says its a worthless degree, or a easy school, ask them if they graduated: If they say yes, congratulations on being smarter than me. I’m an adult I can handle it. If they say no…well…I guess it wasn’t so easy was it?

But it’s time to go traditional. I start classes January 17at Missouri State University.

If someone had told me those years ago that I would one day be gunning for a Masters Degree I’d have laughed at them.

I guess my mentor, Randy Armstrong was right. I really could do anything I set my mind to it.

I just wished it hadn’t taken me so long to figure it out.

This one’s for you sir. And for anyone who spent any time in Acworth, GA back in the 90′s.

John of Nobody Move! has relocated, so if your like me and you have his old blogger website bookmarked, you might want to update your links. The new link is http://armedrobbery.wordpress.com/

The Armorer, while not posting as often as he used too, has not given up the ghost as it were.

Oh and yours truly has returned finally.

I finished my Bachelors degree, it is done. And I start my Masters program on January 17 of 2012. To say I’m pretty stoked is a understatement.

Also I’m “going dark” on my Facebook account. I’m currently trying to get all of my pictures I have uploaded over the years to it, downloaded to my computer. My Internet connection is not helping me in this sadly.  My original intent was to shut it down by Dec 21, but I am afraid I may not make it to that deadline.

Let me explain going Dark and why I set the 21st. On the 23rd Facebook is introducing what they call “Timeline“.

I gotta tell you, it makes me nervous and I’m not the only one. Whats more once everyone gets Timeline, there’s no going back. Whats more with the changes with this new Timeline schema keep in mind that Facebook has already had their hands slapped by the FTC for their lack of privacy as well as for specifically “unfair & deceptive practices”.

“There’s no act too small to record on your permanent record,” said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor at Harvard who studies how the Internet affects society. “All of the mouse droppings that appear as we migrate around the Web will be saved.”

So Why go dark?

Facebook to me is nothing but peer pressure writ large in to the digital era. We have already seen numoerus cases of cyber bullying, all perpetuated on Facebook to the point that kids take their lives because of something was typed out on a screen. It’s just one more assault on the senses.

Take it a step further. As users, you become a automatic advertisement for anything you click the “Like” button on. A unpaid advertiser. While psychologically many of us are wired to have a desire to be in the centerplace, the lime light, I for one am not cool with my or one of my family members pictures being posted world wide because we like Coke Cola and not getting a dime for it. But at the same time some pedo or other whackjob see’s a picture and thinks “Ooooo pretty..!”

There comes a point where sanity must come in to play. We have locks on our doors for a reason. We have locks on our cars for a reason, we put our money in banks for a reason, why would you open your world to a multitude of strangers so Mark Z van make an extra dime?

It is, simply put, digital extortion.

How so?

As Facebook’s VP of Public Policy, Elliot Schrage, puts it:

Well, it… I-I-I-I suppose, when you s…
[Silence]
So let’s pause…
[Long silence]
That’s an interesting…
[Another silence]
Y-y-y-you’re asking a profound question: What’s advertising?”

Courtesy of Computer World lets look at the video clip shall we?

As Richi Jennings of CW points out:

Think about what’s happening here: The guy in charge of public policy hasn’t even considered what the policy or position should be about this kind of advertising.

He seems oblivious to the fact that people might object when they discover their identities are being used to advertise products without their consent.

Madness? Paranoia? Or true concern?

Naysayers who point out that “Oh you can change it with your Privacy settings” haven’t seen the Q&A. You can, technically speaking…but if you changed your setting to Private from Public last year, then everything prior to that is still public via Timeline….and not subject to changing! Further it’s not easy to do at all.

I grew leery when companies started using GPS and location systems, with Timeline its automated, they always know where you are. Its a stalkers paradise.

Whats more if you aren’t a App user, the new Facebook change is going to drive you crazy as it is centerpieced on, you guessed it: Aps.

You can supposedly opt-out of sponsored stories using this link. However, this is contradicted by a Help page that says there is no way to opt out of seeing all or being featured in any Sponsored Stories!

Read that again folks and recall the FTC lawsuit I mentioned earlier…..unfair and deceptive practices.

Facebook was fun, and it was nice seeing folks I went to school with and being part of their goings on. However for me, I value my security highly. Very highly.

The good news is? It frees up time for me to dedicate to here, writing and posting without worrying about security anywhere near as much….because I control the when, where and the how of what I release here.

A close friend called me an alarmist, and maybe I am. He may be right. But that video, and the very blatant counter informative data I’ve linked here speak volumes to me and should give rise for concern.

It’s our world folks, and too precious for us to let someone else decide how it should be presented.